Readers in a big shoe of support for Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child appeal
KIND-HEARTED Reporter readers have helped brighten Christmas for some of the poorest children in eastern Europe. Over 20 shoeboxes filled with gifts and goodies were handed into the Reporter office, which acted as one of 60 local collection
KIND-HEARTED Reporter readers have helped brighten Christmas for some of the poorest children in eastern Europe.
Over 20 shoeboxes filled with gifts and goodies were handed into the Reporter office, which acted as one of 60 local collection points for the Samaritan's Purse Operation Child appeal.
The boxes were picked up by the organisation on Monday. They will be sorted and packaged at a processing warehouse in Bar Hill, Cambridgeshire, loaded into a delivery van and shipped off to Belarus today (Thursday). There they - some 10,000 shoeboxes - will be distributed to some of the country's poorest areas.
Samaritan's transport manager for the CB postcode area, Richard Brading, said: "This year has been better in terms of collection and that has been tremendous.
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"But it is not all about numbers, it's also about the interaction.
"On the one hand the people receiving these boxes are in country of great poverty and these shoeboxes might be the first present they have ever had.
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"At the same time, the people filling the boxes are benefitting as well. Children are learning to give and are doing it with joy.
"And the people who are processing the boxes are meeting new people all the time."
He added: "While there are about 60 collection points in the area, this operation involved so many more people. It is a real humanitarian exercise for the whole community."
Operation Christmas Child is the world's largest children's Christmas project, a Christian relief initiative to help communities in need in Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
For more information about Samaritan's Purse visit www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk
