This year it will be easier for Haralson County residents to take part in The Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child project as there is now a local drop off location at Steadman Baptist Church in Tallapoosa. While it may seem early to start thinking about Christmas, organizers of the world’s largest Christmas project say time is growing short as this week is national collection week.

The Samaritan’s Purse, according to the organization’s Web site, “is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Since 1970, Samaritan’s Purse has helped meet needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease and famine with the purpose of sharing God’s love through His Son, Jesus Christ.”

Each year, Samaritan’s Purse sponsors Operation Christmas Child, collecting gift-filled shoe boxes around the world and distributing them to children who reside in villages and countries plagued by war, famine, poverty and natural disasters in an effort to bring Christmas joy and the Gospel of Jesus to those children.

“For most of the children that receive these boxes, this is the only gift they will get this Christmas,” said Media Relations Specialist for OCC Jessica Smith. “It has a dual purpose. First it shows these children that someone does care about them and that Jesus cares about them. It’s also great to be able to teach children [in more fortunate situations] to give back during Christmas rather than just receive. It also teaches them that they can make an impact, because the impact for us is worldwide.”

Lori Robinson, wife of Pastor Randy Robinson of Steadman Baptist Church, can attest to the effectiveness of this program as her church has been participating in OCC since its inception in 1993.

“We started out small with just our youth [...] packing about 20 boxes each year, and [...] now it’s a church-wide project. We bring items year round to help fill the boxes.”

Steadman Baptist decided to increase their long-time involvement this year and become a relay center for the Operation for the Haralson County area. As such, they serve as a collection site for the entire county. Residents, organizations, and other churches can all bring their shoeboxes to the relay center – the first stop on it’s long journey to a needy child in another country.

“From Tallapoosa, the shoe box gifts will be sorted [in Atlanta] and sent [around the world] using whatever means necessary – sea containers, trucks, trains, airplanes, boats, camels, even dog sleds – to reach suffering children around the world.”

Last year, the Haralson County area sent 1,800 shoe boxes to Atlanta to be processed. This year, Robinson says she hopes to send at least 2,000.

“We’ve really been trying to get more people involved, more churches and civic organizations who may not have participated in the past,” Robinson said.

Steadman Baptist’s personal goal is at least 700 shoe boxes from their congregation; however, the church is depending on the community to supply the remaining 1,300 shoe boxes – most of which will go to poor or orphaned children in India.

“From what the regional organizers have told me, most of the boxes that are processed in Atlanta go to children in India,” said Robinson, “so we try to include things like flip flops because most of the children there wear sandals.”

New this year, Samaritan’s Purse has added a new feature to their Web site, www.samaritanspurse.org, allowing shoe box givers to track their box and see exactly which of the more than 100 countries OCC delivers to received your box.

“You can print out a barcode on our Web site and that barcode will be placed on your box, and you will be able to see where your box ends up,” Smith said.

Robinson and Smith say you can make your shoe box gift as specialized or as generic as you want. However, if you want to build a shoe box for a specific age or gender, it is best to print out a label so you can mark your box for a boy or girl and mark one of the three age groups: 2 to 4 years old, 5 to 9 years old, and 10 to 14 years old.

A variety of items are recommended for filling your shoe box: school supplies, such as small cars and dolls, yo-yos, jump ropes and balls; school supplies, such as pencils and sharpeners, pens, crayons, paper and solar calculators; hygiene items, such as a toothbrush, toothpaste, mild bar soap (in a plastic bag), combs and a washcloth; and other items, like hard candy (double-bagged in plastic), gum, socks, T-shirts, baseball caps, sunglasses and hair clips.

It is also recommended that you include a personal note in the shoe box and a photo of yourself and your family. Smith and Robinson say that often, if you send your name and address, you will get a thank you note from the child who received your gift.

“Our [youth] include an information form and pictures [of themselves] in their shoe boxes, and we’ve gotten back a lot of letters from the kids and the orphanages who receive these gifts thanking us,” Robinson said. “It gives our kids a face and a name to put with these boxes.”

Robinson and Smith both hope this is a program that continues to grow in the future.

“It’s a wonderful program,” Robinson said. “It’s a way to reach out and touch lives around the world because most of us won’t get a chance to go there ourselves. There are hurting people everywhere, and we help people here at home and in our community, but we love doing these shoe boxes, too.”

For more information about Operation Christmas Child or to find out how you can become a relay center, contact Robinson at 770-842-8410 or Smith at 770-777-9342. Drop off your shoe boxes as Steadman Baptist Church on Steadman Road 5 miles north of Tallapoosa from 9 a.m. to noon and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, from 2 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, or call Robinson to make an appointment for a different time.