After buying new shoes, many people just throw away the box. But for participants in Operation Christmas Child, empty shoe boxes represent opportunities to brighten a child's life somewhere around the world.
Operation Christmas Child is a program run by Samaritan's Purse, an international relief organization based in Boone, North Carolina. Franklin Graham, son of the late evangelist Billy Graham, serves as president and chairman of the board.
For more than 30 years, families, churches and volunteers have been filling shoe boxes with gifts to send to children throughout the world. Since 1993, more than 232 million children have received a shoe box gift in more than 170 countries and territories.
The boxes often contain stuffed animals, dolls, toy cars, soccer balls, school supplies and hygiene items — simple items that can be life-changing for children who have never received a gift.
WATCH | From recipient to advocate: Interview with Schimea Nguessan
Schimea Nguessan knows firsthand the impact these gifts can have on a child. When he was 10 years old and living in the Ivory Coast in West Africa, he received a shoe box gift.
He recalls attending church one Sunday when the pastor asked children to stay after service because there were gifts to distribute.
"I saw many shoe boxes over there, the pastor prayed over the shoe boxes and they started to call children's names. I heard my name. I ran to the front, I was so excited," Nguessan said. "They gave me a full-packed shoe box. I took it to my mother. She was grateful because she saw that God touched someone to pack a shoe box and give to her son, a gift that she couldn't afford."
His box contained school supplies and hygiene items, but one item made the biggest impression: a yellow race car.
"Many things were inside of my box like school supplies, hygiene items, but one thing that caught my eye was a yellow race car," he said.
That small Matchbox or Hot Wheels-type toy left a lasting impact on the young boy.
Nguessan is now a spokesperson for Operation Christmas Child and a member of the U.S. Navy. When he came to the United States, he saw the Operation Christmas Child logo on television and reached out to Samaritan's Purse to share how a shoe box had impacted him as a child.
How to participate
Shoe box collection is underway now through Monday, November 24. Participants should take a shoe box, wrap it, and fill it with items for a boy or girl in a specific age group: 2 to 4, 5 to 9, or 10 to 14.
Information about what to include and exclude can be found at samaritanspurse.org. Items to avoid include liquids, toothpaste and items that represent or depict war. The website also allows users to enter their zip code to find the closest drop-off location.
The goal this year is to collect 11.1 million shoe boxes in the United States. While some boxes will reach children by Christmas, the majority are delivered between January and May, with some arriving in early summer due to logistics involving customs, shipping and distribution preferences of receiving countries.
The extended timeline means celebrating Christmas nearly year-round for children around the world.
