Operation Christmas Child collection drive ends Monday
By W. WINSTON SKINNER
winston@newnan.com
This year’s local collection for Operation Christmas Child will end Monday.
Volunteers who have assembled boxes – and groups bringing boxes from churches and organizations – may bring them to the multipurpose building at Unity Baptist Church on LaGrange Street. Hours today are from 2-5 p.m.
Nationally, Samaritan’s Purse officials hope OCC will reach the milestone of 100 million shoe boxes collected and distributed since the program began in 1993.
Operation Christmas Child has had a strong presence in Newnan from the beginning of the project, which has been administered for most of its history by Samaritan’s Purse. Paul Jesse of Samaritan’s Purse described the shoebox effort as “the world’s largest Christmas project of its kind.”
Operation Christmas Child uses tracking technology to allow participants to “follow” their box to the destination country.
Donors can register shoeboxes by using the “Follow Your Box” donation form at www.samaritanspurse.org/occ .
Samaritan’s Purse is headed by Franklin Graham, who was the evangelist for a crusade at East Coweta High School’s Shoemake Stadium several years ago.
