Photo provided by Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child. Teams of volunteers work together to inspect shoebox gifts for international shipment.

Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse, continues their mission of collecting shoe boxes filled with school supplies, toys, and more for children around the world, not just during the holidays but year-round.

Wayne Burnosky, the area coordinator for the Southeastern Ohio and Mid-Ohio Valley Operation Christmas Child team, has been a volunteer with the project for ten years as well as the coordinator for seven. Burnosky helps develop and lead his team to mobilize and equip individuals, churches and groups in designated areas to become actively involved in Operation Christmas Child. He is in charge of Athens and Washington County in Ohio, as well as five counties in West Virginia.

“Operation Christmas Child is a shoebox gift given to children all over the world, all year round,” said Burnosky. “For many this is their first gift they’ve received, and we do this as an opportunity to share with them the love and hope of Jesus Christ.”

Through Samaritan’s Purse, Operation Christmas Child has been serving children all over the world since 1993 and will be celebrating its 30th anniversary of their ministry this year.

Samaritan’s Purse not only helps provide gifts for children through Operation Christmas Child, but they are also a disaster relief program. They recently helped those who were hit with Hurricane Otis and tornadoes in Tennessee. Their team hits ground within the first 24 to 48 hours of the natural disaster and provides food, water, and rebuilding teams.

National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child was this past Nov. 13 through 20, but people can still pack them and ship them to the packing and distribution centers around the U.S.

If people aren’t able to get out to create a shoebox of their own, they are able to build a shoebox online to be packed by volunteers.

Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has distributed over 209 million shoe boxes across the world to children in need. The project’s goal this year is to reach 11 million children. So far this year, Burnosky’s team has filled 8,719 shoeboxes.

In order for a shoebox to count towards this year’s goal, it has to be sent by Dec. 31.

“A lot of people don’t know that it’s a year round thing, and we’re always looking for volunteers,” Burnosky said. “It’s been a blessing in my life and my family’s life to be able to change lives with this project, and I’d love to talk with anyone who would want to become a volunteer.”

If you would like to become a local volunteer, Wayne Burnosky can be reached at lighthouse514@gmail.com and to build your Operation Christmas Child shoebox online, visit samaritanspurse.org/buildonline.