CONWAY — It’s shoebox season again.
Volunteers are working on Operation Christmas Child, a ministry in which shoeboxes are filled with necessities and toys to be hand-delivered to children in more than 150 countries.
The collection dates are Nov. 12-19.
“It’s a community event,” said Dawn Wilson of Conway, area coordinator for the Arkansas River Valley area team.
The drop-off location in Conway is Fellowship Bible Church, 1051 Hogan Lane, where Wilson’s husband is the pastor. Other drop-off locations are found on the website www.samaritanspurse.org/occ, and they include Greenbrier, Maumelle, Perryville, Rose Bud and other communities.
The first step is for a person to decide whether to pack a box for a girl or a boy, and the age category: 2-4, 5-9 or 10-14.
People are asked to fill medium-sized shoeboxes — plastic, wrapped or unwrapped . “The one thing we ask is that you not wrap it closed,” she said, because the items must be checked at the processing center.
Suggested items for the boxes include “wow” items, such as a soccer ball or a stuffed animal.
To help people remember the categories of what to include, Wilson uses WWWW: wow, a toy; wash, hygiene items; wear, flip-flops or a T-shirt; and write, school supplies.
“If you can remember those four categories, you’ve got a great box,” she said. “If they’re only going to get one thing in their whole life … we do this in Jesus’ name. From him, we want this to be a great box with amazing items in it.”
Some items are not allowed in the boxes.
“The list of what not to put in a box includes no candy, no toothpaste — those are the two newest — no breakables, no liquids, no war-related items. Those are the biggies,” she said.
Shoeboxes are available at the church, but the supply is getting low, Wilson said.
“The best place to get them is at the GO store,” she said. “It’s absolutely amazing.”
The store is in downtown Conway at 807 Court St. It was started by Erica and Andy Cason, who loved filling the shoeboxes each year and started buying in bulk and having packing parties.
The Casons, members of Fellowship Bible Church, opened the GO Store in November 2015 in The Ministry Center on Harkrider Street as a place for one-stop shopping for the shoeboxes. Since then, the store has moved to 807 Court St. and is open year-round.
The 10,000-square-foot thrift and discount store sells all kinds of school supplies, toys and clothing, $5 a bag, to put in the boxes, as well as to help other ministries and individuals.
The store is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays and Saturdays. It will be open from 1-4 p.m. Sundays until the shoebox collection is over, and the website is www.conwaygostore.com.
“It’s the awesome, crazy season of OCC (Operation Christmas Child) now for us, so that’s been really fun,” she said.
Although the rush doesn’t usually start until after Halloween, this year, shoppers have come early to fill shoeboxes.
“This morning, we had our third group of 50 or so kids from fifth grade to eighth grade,” she said on Halloween.
“We are available for that and built for it, even,” she said. “Conway Christian this year, praise God, is bringing their fifth grade, or sixth grade … and up.”
Youth groups have come, too, to get items to fill shoeboxes. Cason said the store would appreciate a heads-up if large groups would like to come in to shop.
Some free wrapped shoeboxes are available, and others are 40 cents, she said.
A $9 processing/mailing fee is suggested with each shoebox. Wilson said people are asked not to put cash in the box. Either a check can be made out to Samaritan’s Purse, or the best way, Wilson said, is to donate online through Samaritan’s Purse at www.samaritanspurse.org/occ. Choose Follow Your Box, and print off a bar-code sticker for the box.
“You get an email back that tells you where your box went …,” she said. “It’s a much more efficient way to do your shipping donation.”
Operation Christmas Child is an arm of Samaritan’s Purse, an international nonprofit Christian relief agency run by Franklin Graham. Worldwide, the goal is 11.3 million boxes. The goal in the Arkansas River Valley area is 16,017 boxes, Wilson said.
More information is available by calling Wilson at (501) 269-0434.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.