by Leah Justice

leah.justice@tryondailybulletin.com

 

Those wishing to give to children in need this Christmas season can fill a shoebox and drop it off at the Polk Baptist Association next week.

Last year the Polk Baptist Association celebrated five years of participating in Operation Christmas Child with a total of 26,951 shoeboxes delivered there.

Shoeboxes can be dropped off at 208 Blanton Street in Columbus from Nov. 17-Nov. 24.

Operation Christmas Child is the world’s largest Christmas project of its kind and delivers gift shoeboxes to needy children all over the world, using any travel means necessary-boat, plane, dog sled and even elephant.

Operation Christmas Child is a project through Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief and evangelism organization headed by Franklin Graham. Operation Christmas child began in 1993 and has delivered shoeboxes to more than 113 million children in more than 150 countries.

Operation Christmas Child’s goal for 2014 is to collect enough shoeboxes to reach another 10 million children with 38,000 coming from the seven-county Blue Ridge area of North Carolina, including Polk County.

 

Polk County’s Operation Christmas Child schedule:

Monday, Nov. 17: 9 a.m. – noon

Tuesday, Nov. 18: 5 – 8 p.m.

Wednesday, Nov. 19: 9 a.m. – noon

Thursday, Nov. 20: 5-8 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 21 and Saturday, Nov. 22: 9 a.m. – noon

Sunday, Nov. 23: 12:30- 2 p.m.

Monday, Nov. 24: 9-11 a.m.