Operation Christmas Child Marks National Collection Week

Toccoa is joining communities across the country this week in National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child.

This week, Operation Christmas Child officials say Toccoa residents will pack more than 23,000 shoebox gifts and notes of encouragement into a shoebox to deliver through the Operation Christmas Child program, which is part of Samaritan’s Purse.

Samaritan’s Purse then will deliver the shoeboxes filled with gifts, school supplies, hygiene items, and more to children in need overseas for the holiday season.

Organizers say that Operation Christmas Child hopes to collect enough gifts to deliver more than 11 million shoeboxes worldwide this year.

Since 1993, the project has delivered shoebox gifts to more than 124 million children in over 150 countries and territories.

For more information on giving to Operation Christmas Child, call 770-777-9342 or visit samaritanspurse.org/occ.