Operation Christmas Child has reached the milestone of delivering 100 million shoeboxes to needy children around the world thanks to the support of people in Bedfordshire going the extra mile.
More than 14600 gift filled shoeboxes from across Bedfordshire have been exported to vulnerable children in Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, Swaziland and Ukraine and they were sent from processing centres in Woburn, Biggleswade, Cambridge and Olney as part of Operation Christmas Child, one of the UK’s largest annual children’s charity projects.
Since 1990, through Operation Christmas Child, Samaritan’s Purse has been providing these simple gifts to children in over 100 countries.
Bedfordshire Regional Manager for Operation Christmas Child, Gordon McCann, says: “I would like to thank the volunteers at our local collection sites and all those who packed an Operation Christmas Child shoe box gift.
“For some of the children who receive these gifts, this shoe box will be the first gift they have ever received. Thank you again to everyone who took part in this project. A simple gift, packed with love, can communicate hope to children worldwide.
“We’re so grateful that despite the recession and the hardship everyone is feeling people have really gone the extra mile this year to pack shoeboxes with love and because of that we’ve been able to reach our 100 millionth shoebox.”
Samaritan’s Purse is now asking everyone in Bedfordshire to continue to make a difference to needy children around the world by supporting the 2013 Operation Christmas Child campaign.
Visit www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk for more information.