MISSOULA — For many, the holidays are the time for exchanging gifts, but for some, a holiday gift is a luxury they’ve never received.
Operation Christmas Child is a project through Samaritan’s Purse, where local churches and community members pack a shoe box with gifts and send it to a child living in a developing nation. Monday, Nov. 20 marked the last day for collections for the project’s 30th anniversary year.
Samaritan’s Purse is a Christian non-profit that aims to help people experiencing war, poverty, natural disasters, disease and famine, all while sharing information on the Christian Church.
Operation Christmas Child was started three decades ago and has since sent boxes to over 200 million children in 100 different countries. This year, the project’s goal is to reach 12 million kids.
“The point of it is giving them a tangible gift of love that demonstrates Jesus's love for them,” Greg Reinhardt, a member of Mosaic Church in Hamilton, says. “I just love the fact that children get blessed with a gift that most of them have never ever received in their life.”
Participants can purchase a shoe box for $10, then are asked to fill it with toys, hygiene products, clothes and school supplies. Each box is dedicated to a boy or girl with age ranges of 2-4, 5-9, and 10-14 years old.
“It's really easy. I mean, like honestly, like there's not a lot of effort you have to put into it,” Colby Armerding, a 14-year old member of the Remnant Church in Missoula, says. “I mean, like it's $10, you spend five minutes packing a box and you get to send it off and you get to help someone.”
Revive Church in Missoula is the central drop off location for the Bitterroot Valley, Missoula County and parts of Sanders County and Mineral County. Last year they were able to collect over 7,000 boxes and are expecting similar numbers this year.
Alberton Community Church is one of the biggest donors for the Missoula Valley area, despite being in a town of less than 600 people.
“We've been doing it now since 2004, the first year we had 25 and then each year we just packed more and more,” Pam Elder, a member of Alberton Community Church says. “My favorite part of it is just there's a lot of things that I do in the ministry but this one is just absolutely fun.”
After the boxes are packed on Monday, Nov. 20, they are sent to Denver before flying to their final destinations. While the 2023 drop off is closed, boxes can be bought and packed completely online.
