Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child is marking its 25th anniversary in Westlock this year and members of the Westlock Gospel Chapel hope to ship out their 25,000th shoebox filled with goodies to make a child in the developing world smile on Christmas morning.
“When we started it I never, ever thought it would go this far,” said Carol Van Ruskenveld, the media spokesperson for the Westlock collection group.
She recalls sending out 200 boxes that year, 1994, and now that number is inching towards 25,000, and that’s just the ones they know of, she said.
The shoeboxes are filled with small toys, non-liquid hygiene items, school supplies and other gifts. Sometimes there is a personal note and photo included as well. A $10 donation covers the shipping costs.
Overall, Canadians have filled and sent 615,120 shoeboxes to children in 130 countries over the past 25 years.
This year shoeboxes will be sent to Ukraine, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast and Senegal.
“There’s tons of stories out there about how these boxes have changed people’s lives,” said Van Ruskenveld.
“It’s funny how a little shoebox filled with miniscule items can give you hope. For most of these children, they’ve never received anything like this in their entire lives.”
It’s also something the whole family can take part in, she said. She used to do it with her own kids and now her grandkids take part in the annual packing of shoeboxes.
There is also a new twist this year as people can also fill a box online then track it all the way to its destination, said Van Ruskenveld.
“Westlock is a very giving community,” she added.
It’s not just Westlock though as shoeboxes often come in from Thorhild and Athabasca areas as well. Barrhead has even started its own collection group.
Shoeboxes can be picked up and dropped off at the Westlock Gospel Chapel from Nov. 12-18 — on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
On Nov. 18, the shoeboxes will be crated up into containers and shipped of to the regional collection centre before being sent abroad.
