Greenlee Baptist Church has served three years as a relay center for Operation Christmas Child, a nationwide shoebox drive sponsored by Samaritan's Purse.
The boxes are filled with assorted items for boys and girls in need
Last week, the church opened its doors once again to serve as a collection site. Churches, civic organizations and school groups participate yearly in the event, which has been a huge success time and again. Last year, 3,000 boxes were collected in McDowell County alone, with a total of 39,000 for western North Carolina and 7.8 million for the organization.
"Last year was really amazing," said Tammy Walls, Operation Christmas Child relay center coordinator. "In the fourth quarter of our drive, we saw a 27 percent increase in donations, which was the highest in western North Carolina. This was going on when we had really been hit hard with a recession and suffered major job loss. It just shows you how big the hearts of people in McDowell are."
Walls, who works for Christian radio station WMIT 106.9 The Light, was placed in charge of setting up a collection site in McDowell eight years ago by co-worker Ron Knighton, who is also the site coordinator for Operation Christmas Child.
"We were having to make several trips to Black Mountain each year, plus load and unload thousands of shoeboxes on top of that, so Ron suggested I start one here," said Walls.
Over the weekend, boxes were packed up and driven to Asheville by Walls' husband, Guy, who provides a truck and gas for the effort. Once in Asheville, boxes are transported to Charlotte for processing, and flown to the 95 countries awaiting them.
Accompanying gift boxes this year will be local resident Jennifer Davis, who teaches first grade at Old Fort Elementary School. Davis, who helps coordinate volunteers in western North Carolina for the project, is scheduled to leave in early February (box distribution spans several months) for Ecuador.
"This is an opportunity to give personal testimony when promoting next year's shoebox drive," said Davis. "It will also give me a full vision of what this project is about."
Davis was invited by the Volunteer Relations Team for Samaritan's Purse, located in Boone. She will travel with 25 to 30 volunteers and will be gone approximately five days. She has already been on several mission trips to other countries.
"I was very excited to be invited on this trip," she said. "There were so many other volunteers who had more experience than I, and deserved to go. I feel so blessed!"
This year's goal for the organization had been set at 8.2 million. Items for shoeboxes are collected throughout the year and include school supplies, hygiene items and gifts for play (candy, small toys, watches, etc). Items that cannot be accepted are any toys related to violence (fake guns, knives, military figures); chocolate or any other perishable foods; liquids of ANY kind, including lotions; medications or vitamins; and breakables. Money is also collected during this time to pay for the $7-per-box shipping cost.
Samaritan's Purse is the project of Franklin Graham, son of world-famous evangelical preacher Billy Graham. For more information on this organization, visit www.samaritanspurse.org/occ.
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