FAIRFIELD COUNTY – For many children in developing countries, there would be no soccer ball, no stuffed animal, no Christmas joy, without Operation Christmas Child – an annual global nonprofit program organized by the Baptist Church headquarters in Charlotte, N.C. – that provides Christmas shoebox gifts for children in poor and developing countries around the world.
This year’s local Christmas Child workshop for Fairfield, Richland and Kershaw Counties launched on Sunday, Aug. 18 at the First Baptist Church in Winnsboro.
Approximately 40 people attended the workshop – representing several churches and denominations – and took colorful shoe boxes home with them to fill and return for shipment around the world. Those shoeboxes will be filled with age-appropriate gifts and must be returned to the First Baptist Church during the Nov. 18 – 25 collection week to be sent to Charlotte for worldwide distribution.
There are specific guidelines for the kinds of gifts to pack and what not to pack. Many of the gifts for the shoeboxes can be picked up at Dollar Tree, the Fairfield Farmer’s Market or other local retail outlets. As an optional resource, Operation Christmas Child now has an Amazon storefront at https://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/ with quality appropriate items that are recommended for the shoeboxes and can be purchased online, such as a stuffed animal or a deflated soccer ball with pump that can fit right into the box and that still leaves room for other items as well.
A group of volunteer leaders at Winnsboro First Baptist Church – located at 1373 Newberry Road, Winnsboro – will be on hand to lead the process during National Collection Week to collect shoeboxes.