Operation Christmas Child Collection week is just around the corner, November 13 th through November 20, 2006. This massive kids helping kids campaign brings hope and comfort to needy children overseas through shoe boxes hand packed with gifts that include school supplies, toys, necessity items, candy and (optional) letters of encouragement with photo. Simply indicate on the top of the shoe box whether your gifts is for a boy or a girl and the age category, either 2-4, 5-9 or 10-14 years old. If you wrap the box, please wrap the lid separately from the bottom. Some 8 million children in more than 90 countries on six continents will receive a shoe box gift, which for some, will be the first gift they ever receive.

Operation Christmas Child is a project of International Christian Relief Organization Samaritan's Purse, headed by Franklin Graham. Since its inception in 1993, when 28,000 shoe box gifts were collected, more than 46 million have been hand delivered to children in some 120 countries, including tsunami survivors in Southeast Asia, school children attacked by terrorists in Beslan, Russia, Ugandan children devastated by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, war orphans in Kosovo, Bosnia, Croatia and Rwanda, as well as children in Honduras and Nicaragua left homeless by Hurricane Mitch. Through these shoe boxes, children are introduced to the hope and love they have in Jesus Christ. God has not forgotten them as evidenced through your continued generosity.

Abby Peterson, an orphan in Russia, who has subsequently been adopted by a family in Texas, received a shoe box and relates how great it made her feel that someone she didn't even know cared about her enough to send her a gift. She said it can make a difference to a child who doesn't have anything.

With the support of caring people, the Nassau County, Long Island Collection site at Redeemer Lutheran Church located at One Old Westbury Road (corner of Jericho Tpke & Old Westbury Road) collected over 13,000 of the 7.6 million shoe boxes collected in 2005. Volunteers of individuals, families, churches, scout troops, schools and civic organizations are welcome to assist at the collection site. Simply phone 1-800-590-3874 and leave a message regarding your availability and/or your request for directions and the collection hours. Someone will get back to you.

Your shoes may be worn out but your shoe boxes could still have thousands of miles to go!

Kindly include a check in each shoe box in the amount of $7 made payable to Samaritan's Purse to help cover the cost of shipping the shoe boxes to their international destination.