As winter holiday wrappings and trimmings lay dormant, the time to think of holiday gift-giving seems so far from these sunny summer days — but not for a group of area individuals and their counterparts nationwide.
Operation Christmas Child (OCC) is the name and shoebox gifts are the game. Each year before Christmas, thousands of shoeboxes filled with various small gifts ranging from toys and dolls to stationery and hygiene items are collected by area volunteers and sent off with millions of others from across the country and given to children in poverty-stricken and war-torn regions of the globe.
This year, OCC will celebrate its 30th, having delivered more than 209 million shoebox gifts to children in more than 170 countries and territories since 1993. In this 30th year, members hope to collect enough shoebox gifts during National Collection Week Nov. 13–20 to reach another 11 million children.
Those shoeboxes don’t just magically appear in November, however. Volunteers with the organization work and train year-round to buy and collect items for shoeboxes and spread the word about the power of “shoebox ministry.”
Recently, many year-round volunteers from several area teams in north-central West Virginia, the northern and eastern panhandles and the Mid-Ohio Valley, participated in a team-building workshop in Morgantown at Fresh Harvest Assembly of God Church on Canyon Road.
According to Russell Keplinger, volunteer, logistics coordinator and media support team member for the Morgantown area team, the workshop was sponsored by Samaritan’s Purse from the Great Lakes Region of Operation Christmas Child and conducted by Regional Manager Michael Brummitt and Regional Administrative Coordinator Amy Hufford.
The teams honed skills that facilitate team-building, which is crucial to accomplishing their annual goals. Keplinger said participants were encouraged to communicate the excitement of the “shoebox ministry” to potential volunteers by sharing truthful and compelling ministry messages about the work they do.
The thought is — the more they talk about what they do, the more likely they are to encounter individuals who have been looking for a worthwhile undertaking.
“We have an area team composed of year-round volunteers who work together to assist churches, businesses and other groups generate shoebox gifts with which to reach out to hurting children around the world,” Keplinger said. “A well-staffed volunteer team can provide the support needed to maximize that goal.”
Last year, Morgantown’s designated drop-off location, the Christian & Missionary Alliance (CMA) Church, 308 Elmhurst Street, off Patteson Drive, achieved a Gold Standard award from OCC for its work in the program and for going above and beyond praying for those involved and running an efficient drop-off location.
All of the area churches, organizations and individuals collecting boxes throughout the year combine forces at CMA during the collection week. Last year, the greater Morgantown area collected over 12,000 shoeboxes.
If you would like to learn more about how you can participate in Operation Christmas Child in Monongalia, Preston and Marion counties, either as a volunteer or by building a shoebox, contact Ronda Dalton at 681-209-4685 or Paula Keplinger at 304-771-4818.
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