Lynn church begins season of giving

LYNN – Monday marked the national kick off of Operation Christmas Child, a program created by Samaritan’s Purse but executed by East Baptist Church at 300 Western Ave. for the last seven years.”Operation Christmas Child is a unique opportunity to do something as simple as packing a shoe box that will have a lasting impact on a child a world away,” said Hilda Spates, Operation Christmas Child drop-off site coordinator. “It’s a national program that collects shoe boxes for children, primarily in third world countries, and it gives them the opportunity to have something they may not otherwise have.”Participating is as easy as filling and wrapping an average sized shoe box with basic gifts for a boy or girl, printing a gift tag from the Samaritan’s Purse Web site, donating $7 for shipping and dropping the box off at the church. Gifts should be for children in the age ranges of 2-4, 5-9 or 10-14 and can include items such as small cars, balls, dolls, stuffed animals, kazoos, harmonicas, yo-yos, jump ropes and toys that light up or make noise, with extra batteries.”What a joy it is to give to a child things that we are so blessed with and we never give a second thought to here. I think we fail to realize how fortunate we are to live here in the U.S.,” Spates said.The East Baptist Church encourages residents to include school supplies such as pens, pencils and sharpener, coloring supplies, stamp sets, writing pads, solar calculators, coloring and picture books, as well as hygiene items such as a toothbrush and toothpaste, mild bar soap in a plastic bag, a comb, brush, or hair ties, washcloths and other similar items. Other gifts can include double bagged hard candy and lollipops, mints, gum, t-shirts, socks, hats, sunglasses, costume jewelry, watches and flashlights with extra batteries.Items that should not be included in the boxes are used or damaged items, war-related items such as toy guns, knives or military figures, chocolate or food, out-of-date candy, liquids or lotions, medications or vitamins, breakable items such as snow globes or glass containers and aerosol cans.”We don’t know where (the box) is going to be shipped, so we have to make sure they won’t attract pests. It could be in a ship going to Siberia or it could be in a ship going to Haiti. We never put war related items into the boxes because we don’t know where they are going and things that children in the U.S. enjoy could frighten the children overseas,” said Spates.Spates said they had expected a smaller number of donations last year due to the failing economy, but were pleasantly surprised at the close of the collection period.”Last year we had 539 and this just adds to the millions of boxes collected. (This year) we are hoping to go over 600,” said Spates.Boxes and donations can be brought to the East Baptist Church at 300 Western Ave., Lynn tonight from 4-6 p.m., on Thursday from 4-7 p.m., Friday from 4-6 p.m., Saturday from 10-3 p.m. and Sunday from 12-3 p.m. To print a gift tag or receive more information about how to prepare a box, visit the Samaritan’s Purse Web site at www.samaritanspurse.org