Hollywood, Md. – This month, several locations in the Southern Maryland area will serve as drop-off sites for the Samaritan’s Purse project, Operation Christmas Child – joining nearly 5,000 U.S. locations collecting gift-filled shoe boxes for children in need around the world.
During the project’s National Collection Week, Nov 13-20, Southern Maryland residents will transform empty shoe boxes into gifts of hope filled with school supplies, hygiene items and fun toys. Operation Christmas Child will deliver these shoe box gifts to children affected by war, disease, disaster, poverty and famine.
This year, Southern Maryland area residents hope to contribute more than 20,500 shoe box gifts toward the 2017 global goal of reaching 12 million children.
ST. MARY’S COUNTY COLLECTION SITES:
Leonardtown Baptist Church
23520 Hollywood Road
Leonardtown MD 20650-5810
Lexington Park Baptist Church
46855 S. Shangri La Drive
Lexington Park MD 20653-4166
CALVERT COUNTY COLLECTION SITES:
Southern Calvert Baptist Church
12140 HG Truman Road
Lusby MD 20657-3801
Friendship Community Baptist Church
37 Jewell Road
Dunkirk MD 20754-9551
Dunkirk Baptist Church
11275 Southern Maryland Boulevard
Dunkirk MD 20754-9546
CHARLES COUNTY COLLECTION SITES:
Hughesville Baptist Church
8505 Old Leonardtown Road
Hughesville MD 20637-2531
First Baptist Church, La Plata
9070 Hawthorne Road
La Plata MD 20646-3163
First Baptist Church, Waldorf
10045 Bunker Hill Road
Waldorf MD 20603-3809
Indian Head Baptist Church
27 Raymond Avenue
Indian Head MD 20640-1710
PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY COLLECTION SITE:
Kendall Baptist Church
3000 Branch Avenue
Temple Hills MD 20748-1002
For more information on how to participate in Operation Christmas Child or to view gift suggestions, visit samaritanspurse.org/occ. Participants can donate $9 per shoebox gift online through “Follow Your Box” and receive a tracking label to discover its destination. Those who prefer the convenience of online shopping can browse samaritanspurse.org/buildonline to select gifts matched to a child’s specific age and gender, then finish packing the virtual shoebox by adding a photo and personal note of encouragement.
Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief and evangelism organization headed by Franklin Graham. The mission of Operation Christmas Child is to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to children in need around the world and, together with the local church worldwide, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has collected and delivered more than 146 million gift-filled shoeboxes to children in more than 160 countries and territories.