Holiday gift effort underway at area churches

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A child holds a gift box he received from “Operation Christmas Child” volunteers. Area church members are now beginning their collection efforts for the international gift program. Courtesy photo

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October 18, 2012

Holiday gift effort underway at area churches

Special to the Register Gainesville Daily Register The Daily Register Thu Oct 18, 2012, 08:50 AM CDT

Gainesville — Local and distant volunteers are currently gathering boxes of toys and gifts — shoeboxes, to be exact — as part of a nationwide mid-November donation drive that will provide holiday presents for children throughout 110 countries.

“Operation Christmas Child,” initiated in 1992 by evangelist Franklin Graham and the Samaritan’s Purse organization, resulted in more than eight million boxes distributed during the end of 2011, and more than five million of them came from the United states.

Cooke County’s participation in the drive has recently resulted in up to 7,000 gift boxes gathered during a single year.

“That’s good for this area,” said organizer Johnny Bittick. “In Denton, it was 10,000. But there are more rural areas here and the towns are smaller and the churches are smaller.”

Bittick explained that First Baptist Church of Gainesville at 308 E. Broadway St. is this year’s gathering point. Collections begin on Nov. 12, and last until Nov. 18. Donors are urged to fill shoeboxes with non-perishable gifts and bring them to the church during the week of collection.

Once received, the boxes are shipped to a sorting center in Denver, Colo., where they are opened and the items are examined. Donations are separated into three age brackets for children between the ages of 2 and 14 before being issued worldwide.

Donors can use empty shoe boxes, special “Operation Christmas Child” boxes soon to be 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 other practical items such as flashlights with extra batteries, hair brushes, bands or costume jewelry.

Participants are allowed to put just about anything in the boxes, but Bittick said the exceptions are violence-oriented toys, foods that can spoil and liquid items.

“The driving factor is, these things go on airplanes all over the world and the low pressure will cause something to leak,” Bittick said.

For more information on how to participate in Operation Christmas Child call 1-800-353-5949 or visit www.samaritanspurse.org.

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Holiday gift effort underway at area churches

Gainesville City Council has proposed an ordinance that would place restrictions on smoking in certain public areas in the city. How do you feel the council should handle the issue?

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