What a successful year 2011 was for us at the Columbus Relay Collection Center for Operation Christmas Child!   Because of such wonderful, caring people in our community, 4,932 children will have smiles on their faces and know that they are loved.
This would not have been possible without the support of all our special volunteers. Those who prayed for us, provided snacks, donated the tractor-trailer bed, placed boxes in cartons and taped, loaded the semi truck; but most of all, the people who packed each individual shoe box and/or donated money for shipping.
Including our 4,932, more than 6 million gift-filled shoeboxes in the United Stated and more than 8.6 million worldwide were collected and readied for shipment to children in communities suffering from natural disasters, war and poverty in more than 100 countries. We recently received notice that some of the gift-filled shoeboxes from our area were shipped to Iraq, Gabor (Africa), Guyana (South America), the Ukraine and the Baltics/Balkans.
As the co-coordinators of the Columbus Relay Collection Center, we humbly ask that your readers, their families, civic groups and churches consider filling shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child in 2012.
It ís never too early to get started! Watch for sale items and see how many boxes you can fill. Collection week is Nov. 12-19. Everyone can learn more about OCC and order materials at: www.samaritanspurse.org/occ.
– Patsy Williams and Judy Loudermelt