Community invited to help with Operation Christmas Child
By Elizabeth Wood West
Would you and your family like to make a big difference in a child’s life this holiday season? Castle Pines Community Church (CPCC) is inviting the community to join them in Operation Christmas Child, Samaritan’s Purse’s annual shoe box gift drive for children all over the world. Its goal this year is to surpass the total number of shoe boxes shipped to date, which is 100 million. CPCC will again be a relay station for Operation Christmas Child. Last year, the Castle Pines community and members of CPCC donated and shipped more than 300 shoe boxes filled with gifts for needy children.
The community can choose to participate with CPCC and Operation Christmas Child in two ways: Families are invited to CPCC for a “packing party” on Saturday, November 3, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., to help fill shoe boxes (assembly-line style) with gifts that have been donated by businesses, church members, and others. Christmas cookies and cider will be served, and children will be able to make a craft with their parents. For those who wish to purchase their own gifts and pack their own shoe boxes (cardboard or plastic shoe boxes with lids), CPCC will be collecting shoe boxes during Collection Week, as follows:
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, November 12, 13, 14 – 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Thursday and Friday, November 15, 16 – 9:30 a.m. to noon.
Saturday and Sunday, November 17, 18 —
9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Monday, November 19 – 9:30 a.m. to noon.
CPCC is located at 7280 Lagae Road, Suite O, in the King Soopers shopping center in Castle Pines. For information on what gift items to donate for boys and girls, how to prepare your shoe box for international travel, how to print shipping labels, and other details about Operation Christmas Child, visit the Samaritan’s Purse website at www.samaritanspurse.org/Occ.
For more information about CPCC’s packing party and collection week, contact Emily Hibpshman at 303-663-9755 or by e-mail emilyh@castlepineschurch.org.
