Published: November 19, 2009 02:01 pm      

First Baptist is Opreation Christmas Child collection site

The gifts come in a shoe box.

They don't cost a lot.

And you will never see the recipient.

But many who participate in Operation Christmas Child each year say the joy of giving presents and sending a message of love and faith to needy children is its own reward.

First Baptist Church of Gainesville is a collection site for Operation Christmas Child donations.

Mark Fuller, minister of discipleship and evangelism at the church said he and other volunteers are accepting Operation Christmas child donation boxes from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. this week.

“This is a collection site for the program. Collinsville and Ardmore, Okla. are relay centers,” he noted.

That means First Baptist volunteers are packing large cardboard boxes with shoe boxes.

He estimated the volunteers have already packed up 350 boxes.

FBC has been a collection center for Operation Christmas Child for four years, and the effort keeps getting bigger, he said.

“The first year we had approximately 3,500 boxes. Last year, we took in a little more than 7,000,” he said.

The organization hopes to collect 8.2 million shoe boxes, Fuller said.

He said even though times are difficult for many people, ministries such as Operation Christmas Child often thrive in tough times.

“Sometimes in a bad economy people become more generous,” he said.

Donors don’t even have to supply their own shoeboxes.

“We have empty boxes they can come pick up and fill,” Fuller said.

A project sponsored by Samaritan’s Purse -- a ministry founded by Billy Graham’s son Franklin Graham and based in Boone, North Carolina -- Operation Christmas Child staff members distribute the donated gift boxes to children all over the world.

Participants can choose to fill a shoe box for either a girl or a boy. They also designate the recipientís age group from youngsters 2 to 4 to 14-year-olds.

Donors can use empty shoe boxes, printed Operation Christmas child boxes available at local churches or small plastic containers with snap-on lids.

Gift suggestions include small toys (matchbox cars, tiny dolls, games), clothing such as ball caps, socks or t-shirts, hard candies, mints or gum in self-sealing plastic bags and more practical items such as flashlights with extra batteries, hair brushes, bands or costume jewelry.

Some items such as foods, used or damaged merchandise, lotions or liquids, glass or other breakables, war-themed toys (plastic soldiers, simulated guns, swords), medications and vitamins are prohibited.

Participants also pay $7 postage and handling for each box.

Postage can be paid online at www.samaritanspurse.org/ezgive or mailed to the organization.

“It’s just a fun family activity,” Fuller said. “It’s also a simple way to touch a life.”

The boxes are sent to places such as Latin America and Africa,” he added.

“They go wherever there are needy kids,” he said.

Donors can also send children a message.

“Sometimes families will write a letter and include a photo of themselves to make the gift a little more personal. Sometimes — and this is really exciting — if you include a mailing address, the kids will actually write a thank you letter,” he said.