Residents of all ages gave care packages a personal touch on Saturday, during Operation Christmas Child. The boxes each included a stuffed toy, as well as a variety of games, art and school supplies, and hygiene products, destined for girls and boys abroad this holiday season.
Debbie Glaze prepares a message for her gift box, one of 256 sent out by the Wrangell Ministerial Association for its annual "Operation Christmas Child" endeavor.
Local volunteers put together 256 packages of toys and supplies for children in need this Christmas.
The 17th annual Operation Christmas Child event was held at the Nolan Center last Saturday, hosted as before by the Wrangell Ministerial Association. Each year the church coalition collects donations from congregants and various community members with the intention of buying supplies for their gift boxes.
"We order stuff from everywhere," explained Deanna Reeves, who helped organize this year's drive. "It's been an awesome outreach. People have been very generous."
The project accrued around $4,000 for 2017, which went to purchase the preprinted shoeboxes, paper, toys and stuffed animals, hygiene products, art supplies and other cheerful items. Volunteers pre-assembled the boxes, with residents stopping by over the afternoon to fill them.
"There's three stages that we like them to fill. One of the most important ones is writing a letter and coloring a page," said Susan Haggard, another of the organizers.
Every gift comes with a hand-written or -colored page, expressing seasonal greetings and perhaps telling a bit about the giver. Those putting together a box then select items from a variety of tables, enough to fill their package. Once assembled, the Ministerial Association then arranges to have the boxes shipped north to Anchorage, from where a chapter of Christian aid organization Samaritan's Purse International Relief then distributes the boxes worldwide.
"We do have tracking on them, where we try to keep track of where ours go," said Haggard. Packages find their way to countries around the globe, making their way to children in time for Christmas. Packages do not contain return contact information, but she presumed they will make some kids' holiday a little cheerier.
"This simple gift is something very important to them," said Haggard. "A lot of the kids that receive these have never gotten a gift in their life."
Haggard noted the annual project is a community effort.
"There're a lot of generous people," she said. "All the churches are aware of it. Since it's from the community we open up to whoever wants to come, whether they can give or not."
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