Operation Christmas Child collections in full swing

The Dwelling Place, 1800 E. College St., is making it easy to be a good Samaritan this week. The church, one of nearly 5,000 U.S. drop-off locations for Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes, has a drive-thru set up. Area residents can drop off boxes of gifts for needy children without having to get out of their vehicles.

Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes are filled with toys, toothbrushes, school supplies and other items to be given to disadvantaged children in more than 100 countries. OCC, founded in 1993, is an outreach of Samaritan’s Purse — an evangelical Christian humanitarian aid organization.

Monday marked the start of the Nov. 12-19 collection period for the shoeboxes. During the first hour of collections on Monday, things were moving at a brisk pace at The Dwelling Place.

“We’ve already filled over 300 cartons (large cardboard boxes) with shoeboxes,” said volunteer Krista Sanderson.

Sanderson was accepting donations at the drive-thru while a team of volunteers loaded boxes full of shoeboxes onto trucks destined for processing centers in either Dallas, Texas or Atlanta, Ga.

Other area churches serving as collection stations for the shoeboxes are First Baptist Church, 276 Old Hwy. 171 in Moss Bluff; Maplewood First Baptist Church, 4501 Maplewood Drive in Sulphur; and First Baptist Church, 201 S. Pine St. in DeQuincy.

Last year, 25,590 boxes were assembled and donated by Southwest Louisiana residents. Organizers hope to collect 28,000 boxes this year.

Online: www.samaritanspurse.org/occ.