Over 200 shoeboxes packed for Operation Christmas Child

Operation Christmas Child is an annual event put on by Samaritan's Purse, a Christian nonprofit that works to provide "spiritual and physical aid" to people around the world. The operation works to send needy children across the globe a shoebox filled with toys, school supplies, and hygienic items as a Christmas gift. According to Lucas Zellers, the media relations coordinator with Samaritan's Purse, Operation Christmas Child has delivered over 157 million shoeboxes to children across 160 countries since its inception.

"In 2017, Operation Christmas Child collected enough shoebox gifts to reach 11 million children worldwide; this year, we hope to collect enough shoebox gifts to reach 11 million more," Zellers said in an email.

The Wrangell Ministerial Association has participated in Operation Christmas Child for over 20 years, according to Susan Haggard with Harbor Light Church. On Saturday, members of several churches in Wrangell came together to put together over 200 shoeboxes.

"They'll come and get a shoebox, and they'll go down the appropriate table and they just get to fill it with whatever they see, and they stuff it," Haggard explained how all the boxes were put together. "Then they'll take it to the tables over here ... We'll sort through them, we label them, and age appropriately stack them."

Wrangell's shoebox packing used to take place in the basement of Harbor Light, Haggard said, but in recent years it had grown so big it had to be moved to the Nolan Center which provides the space. Each box costs $9 to ship. Haggard said they try to get sponsors for their boxes, and that it costs between $25 and $30 to fill each box. After Saturday's event, 232 shoeboxes had been filled.

"We had a record breaking 266 last year," Haggard said.

The nation-wide

collection week for the

shoebox gifts will take place from Nov. 12 to 19. According to the Samaritan's Purse website, the shoeboxes will reach their destinations by the middle of December. More about Operation Christmas Child, and Samaritan's Purse,

can be found online at http://www.samaritanspurse.org. The Wrangell Ministerial Association can be found on

Facebook under "Wrangell Ministerial Association," as well.