Collection items can include: wrapped toothbrushes, bar soap, combs & hairbrushes, wash clothes, small purses, fold up carry bags, wallets, flashlights, sunglasses, small stuffed animals, small dolls, small toy cars/trucks, bandannas, socks, t-shirts, cards, crayons, coloring books, pencils, pens, etc.
Samaritan’s Purse will collect the gift-filled shoeboxes at more than 3,500 drop-off sites in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Operation Christmas Child also offers the opportunity year-round to pack personalized shoe boxes online. Go to www.samaritanspurse.org and click on Operation Christmas Child to build a box by selecting toys and gift items, writing a note of encouragement, and “packing” them in a shoebox. After the boxes are prepared for overseas shipment at eight major processing centers across the United States—Atlanta; Boone, N.C.; Charlotte; Dallas; Denver; Honolulu; Minneapolis; and Orange County, Calif.—Samaritan’s Purse and its partners will deliver the gifts to children in more than 100 countries on six continents. Donors can find out the country where their shoebox gifts are delivered by using the donation form found at www.samaritanspurse.org. Click on Support and Follow Your Box.
More than 500,000 volunteers worldwide, with over 100,000 of those in the United States, are involved in collecting, shipping and distributing shoebox gifts.
