International Christian charity Samaritan’s Purse plans a ‘bold target’ of increasing the number of children receiving shoebox gifts this Christmas.
Individuals, families, churches, and groups fill empty shoeboxes with school supplies, hygiene items, and fun toys, and Samaritan’s Purse collects them and delivers them to needy children worldwide.
The organisation says more than 11.3 million shoebox gifts were collected globally in 2023, and this year Operation Christmas Child hopes to collect enough shoeboxes to reach another 12 million children.
Since 2009, over 40.5 million shoebox recipients have participated in Samaritan Purse’s 12-lesson discipleship course, ‘The Greatest Journey’.
Shoebox gifts are collected in Australia, Austria, Canada, Finland, Germany, New Zealand, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States.
