CONWAY — Although it’s the day before Halloween, a group in Conway is working to send Christmas presents to needy children all over the world.
It’s time for Operation Christmas Child, a ministry in which shoeboxes filled with necessities and toys are hand-delivered to children in more than 100 countries. Collection dates are Nov. 14-21.
Dawn Wilson is again the collection-center coordinator for the Arkansas River Valley area. Her church, Fellowship Bible Church, at 1051 Hogan Lane in Conway, is a drop-off location and has wrapped shoeboxes available. In addition to Fellowship Bible Church, shoebox-drop-off locations are in Perryville, Clinton and Russellville, as well as two new locations — Greenbrier and Danville.
“Our local collection center in Faulkner County is shooting for 11,000 [boxes],” Wilson said. “Last year, we had 9,970. We’ve been over our goal for a number of years now, and we set our goals a little bit higher, so it’s been fun to see that.”
Worldwide, the goal is 12 million boxes, she said. Operation Christmas Child is an arm of Samaritan’s Purse, an international nonprofit Christian relief agency run by Franklin Graham.
“They go off to places affected by poverty, war, natural disaster and famine,” she said. “That’s huge right now with all the refugee situations, and we just had the hurricane go through in Haiti. The need’s always greater than the number.
Twelve million is huge, but that’s a drop in the bucket. That’s not even enough for India, much less the rest of the globe.”
Erica and Andy Cason, members of Fellowship Bible Church, opened the GO Store in November 2015 in The Ministry Center, 766 Harkrider St. in Conway. The GO store, which stands for Gospel Opportunity, sells all kinds of toys, school supplies and some clothes at discounted prices to individuals and groups who are filling Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes.
The store will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and Nov. 12 and 19, as well as hours throughout the week, which are listed on the store’s website, www.occgostore.com.
“It’s awesome this year,” Wilson said. “It’s huge; she has lots and lots of stuff.”
“Oh, my word, it’s so much bigger,” Cason said. “It’s just unreal.”
She said proceeds from a huge garage-sale fundraiser in the spring were used to buy inventory for the GO store. “We bought a whole lot more stuff — we’re so excited,” Cason said.
Wilson said people are encouraged to fill traditional-size shoeboxes, which can be cardboard or plastic. She suggested including items from the four W’s: “Something to wash with — soap, a toothbrush, a washcloth; something to wear — socks, flip-flops, an article of clothing; something to write with — pencils, pens and paper; and a wow item — something that when they open their box, there’s going to be something right away that is bright or colorful or fun, whether it’s a doll, a jump rope or a ball.”
Items not allowed include breakable, war-related, liquid or food items, except for hard candy.
She said people should keep in mind that Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes might be the only gift a child receives, Wilson said.
“We ask people to pray and put things they feel led to include,” she said.
Gifts that wouldn’t be exciting for an American child often mean a lot to a child in poverty. “We hear those stories all the time about 20 people sharing a washcloth or 20 people sharing a toothbrush,” she said.
Wilson encourages people to fill a regular box — or more than one — “rather than a big boot box that you spent $25 on,” because sometimes extra children show up to the distribution sites around the world.
Wilson said she and others involved with the project hear story after story about
children whose lives were changed because of what was in their Christmas shoeboxes, such as pencils that enabled them to go to school.
Notes and photos from the sender are always appreciated, too, Wilson said — sometimes more than anything else.
“That’s one of the things they cherish the most — that somebody somewhere cares enough for them to do that,” she said.
Wrapped shoeboxes are available at Fellowship Bible Church, but Wilson recommends that people call (501) 327-3444 first to make sure someone is available. The shoeboxes will also be available at Chick-fil-A and Lighthouse Christian Bookstore, both in Conway.
Wilson said people are asked to include a $7 check, not cash, made out to Samaritan’s Purse, or go online and pay for the shipping on the Samaritan’s Purse website.
Other drop-off locations for the shoeboxes are Greenbrier First United Methodist Church, 2 Tyler St.; Perryville First Baptist Church, 207 Fourth St.; CrossLife Church at the Wesley Foundation at Arkansas Tech University, 1111 N. El Paso Ave. in Russellville; Clinton First Baptist Church, 211 First Baptist Road; and Danville First Baptist Church, 1009 Main St.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.