Local Churches Filling 19,000 Shoeboxes for Holiday Giving

The following is a press release from Samaritan's Purse, which organizes Operation Christmas Child each year:

This week, Annapolis families and groups are joining millions of people across the country to fill empty shoeboxes with gifts for 9.8 million suffering children around the world.

When Debbie Guidry, local resident, began packing shoeboxes more than six years ago, she said she never thought she would get to hand-deliver one. But while on a week-long distribution trip to Zambia in May, Debbie witnessed the power of a simple gift in the lives of children facing war, poverty and disease.

“A ball, a Beanie Baby, pencils, all the typical things that we pack—they were excited about all them,” Guidry said. “You could hear [the children] cheering for a long time; they were just so happy to receive a gift.” 

During Operation Christmas Child’s National Collection Week—Nov. 18–25—seven collection sites in the Annapolis area will be bustling with activity as 19,000 colorfully wrapped shoebox gifts are dropped off by residents. Hundreds of local volunteers will be working hard to pack and transport the boxes to the next stop on their journey to a child in need.   

Anyone can drop off a packed shoe box at one of the locations in the Anne Arundel County area. The shoe box gifts then will be hand-delivered to children in 100 countries around the world.

Drop-off locations:

Annapolis Evangelical Presbyterian Church
710 Ridgely Avenue
Annapolis, MD 21401

Chesapeake Christian Fellowship
377 W Central Avenue
Davidsonville, MD 21035

Linthicum Heights United Methodist Church
200 School Lane
Linthicum Heights, MD 21090

Severna Park Baptist Church
506 Benfield Road
Severna Park, MD 21146

To find the nearest drop-off site, call 410-772-7360 or visit samaritanspurse.org/occ.