{"id":7806,"date":"2025-11-13T15:25:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T15:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/13\/operation-christmas-child-collections-underway\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T15:25:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T15:25:00","slug":"operation-christmas-child-collections-underway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/13\/operation-christmas-child-collections-underway\/","title":{"rendered":"Operation Christmas Child Collections Underway"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"202\" data-end=\"511\">Volunteers across South Carolina are preparing to collect <strong data-start=\"260\" data-end=\"289\">Operation Christmas Child<\/strong> shoebox gifts during <strong data-start=\"311\" data-end=\"355\">National Collection Week, November 17&ndash;24<\/strong>. Nearly 5,000 drop-off locations will open nationwide, offering convenient spots for individuals, families, and groups to deliver their packed shoeboxes.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"513\" data-end=\"821\">Since 1993, <strong data-start=\"525\" data-end=\"554\">Operation Christmas Child<\/strong>, a project of <strong data-start=\"569\" data-end=\"590\">Samaritan&rsquo;s Purse<\/strong>, has collected and delivered gift-filled shoeboxes to children affected by war, poverty, disease, and disaster. This year, the organization hopes to reach another <strong data-start=\"754\" data-end=\"787\">12 million children worldwide<\/strong> with messages of hope and love.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"823\" data-end=\"1120\">Shoebox packing is a fun and meaningful activity for participants of all ages. A step-by-step guide is available on the <strong data-start=\"943\" data-end=\"968\">How to Pack a Shoebox<\/strong> webpage. Donors can also give <strong data-start=\"999\" data-end=\"1051\">$10 per shoebox online through &ldquo;Follow Your Box&rdquo;<\/strong> to receive a tracking label showing where their gift is delivered.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1122\" data-end=\"1471\">&ldquo;Samaritan&rsquo;s Purse works around the world to help people in need, but it&rsquo;s not about good works&mdash;it&rsquo;s about the Gospel,&rdquo; said <strong data-start=\"1247\" data-end=\"1266\">Franklin Graham<\/strong>, president of Samaritan&rsquo;s Purse. &ldquo;Please prayerfully consider packing a shoebox this year with Operation Christmas Child. These simple gifts open the door for us to share the true meaning of Christmas.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1473\" data-end=\"1711\">To find the <strong data-start=\"1485\" data-end=\"1514\">nearest drop-off location<\/strong> and operating hours, visit <a class=\"decorated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/3sufw296\" target=\"_new\" rel=\"noopener\" data-start=\"1542\" data-end=\"1602\">https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/3sufw296<\/a>. The online lookup tool is searchable by city or ZIP code, and signs will clearly mark each drop-off site.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1713\" data-end=\"1972\">Since its founding, Operation Christmas Child has delivered more than <strong data-start=\"1783\" data-end=\"1812\">232 million shoebox gifts<\/strong> to children in <strong data-start=\"1828\" data-end=\"1866\">over 170 countries and territories<\/strong>, partnering with local churches to share God&rsquo;s love and the Good News of Jesus Christ around the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Volunteers across South Carolina are preparing to collect Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts during National Collection Week, November 17&ndash;24. Nearly 5,000 drop-off locations will open nationwide, offering convenient spots for individuals, families, and groups to deliver their packed shoeboxes. Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan&rsquo;s Purse, has<span class=\"more-link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/13\/operation-christmas-child-collections-underway\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7807,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[31],"tags":[967],"class_list":["entry","author-john-griggs","post-7806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-community-news","tag-operation-christmas-child"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gpstrianglenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Operation-Christmas-Child_2023_630x350.jpg?fit=630%2C350","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}