CLAY COUNTY – Residents in the county can help out children thousands of miles away thanks to Operation Christmas Child.

The operation is an annual operation that’s been around since the early 1990s as an arm of Samaritan’s Purse. It provides local partners in nearly 200 countries around the world with shoeboxes full of school supplies for students in need. Northeast Florida has its own chapter and donating in Clay County has never been easier.

“Anyone can pack a shoebox if they’d like or they can build a shoebox online and that will be created by us,” Operation Christmas Child volunteer and Northeast Florida area team prayer coordinator, Ola iyewarun, said. “This is an excellent opportunity to share the gospel with people around the world.”

That’s because inside each shoebox is what iyewarun said Operation Christmas Child calls the greatest gift: the story of Jesus Christ in the native language of wherever the child who receives the box lives. Part of the operation and Samaritan Purse’s greater message is that no matter who you are, you are loved by Jesus Christ. After receiving the shoe box, the student can enter into 12-lesson discipleship to learn even more about the gospel.

When Operation Christmas Child began it was as a request to send children in a war-torn Bosnia gift inside of shoe boxes. The Samaritan’s Purse president reached out to a friend, Evangelist Franklin Graham, in North Carolina to get more help and the rest was history: 11,000 shoeboxes were assembled within weeks.

Locally, Hibernia Baptist Church on Fleming Island, Oakleaf Baptist Church and Trinity Baptist Church in Keystone Heights have been designated as drop-off locations.

“They went on to send 28,000 shoeboxes to Bosnia,” iyewarun said. “Now, more than 188 million in 178 countries and territories have received a shoebox since 1993 and that number rises each year.”

Operation Christmas Child has collected 9.1 million boxes filled with school supplies and gifts from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and many other countries.

The prayer coordinator mentioned the story of Olesea Makarets, who was a child born and raised in a family of nine in Moldova. She received a pack of markers that opened her eyes up to new worlds.

“I couldn’t take my eyes off them,” Makarets said according to Operation Christmas Child. “I didn’t know some of the colors existed. I was so excited I jumped around and started running around the room. The markers my family had at home were dried out. We would dip them in water just to make them last a little longer. I always wished I could color and draw. The markers were exactly what I wanted and I could hardly wait to show my friends at school the new markers.”

iyewarun said the operation’s success stems from its large network of volunteers spread throughout the world be it church groups, community groups or a single person who just wants to help.

“With every shoebox, we encourage them to provide a small toy or gift to really wow the child in each box, as well as hygiene items, school supplies, and other things like that,” iyewarun said. “We collect each box during our national collection week, which is Nov. 15 through Nov. 22, and everyone can drop the boxes off at the different locations we have.”

Those who want to build a box can get involved by talking to Tom Dedricks, who is a volunteer coordinator with Operation Christmas Child. He can be reached at tmdedricks@gmail.com. If you’d like to build a box online, you can visit https://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/buildonline/ and if you’re just generally curious to learn more, head to https://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/.

“It’s simple really,” iyewarun said. “We just want to help students in need.”