Charlotte Helps Pack the 100 Millionth Shoe Box Gift – Bound for a Needy Child this December
WHAT:
Carolinas kids, families and volunteers celebrate the 2 million shoe box gifts being prepared in Charlotte this year for Operation Christmas Child, a project that fills shoe boxes with toys, school supplies and necessity items for needy children overseas. During the celebration, volunteers will add a special item on behalf of North Carolina to the 100 millionth shoe box gift.
Charlotte is the tenth and final stop on a nationwide tour to pack the 100 millionth shoe box gift. Twelve-year-old Evilyn Pinnow is rallying U.S. kids and families to support Operation Christmas Child in meeting a major milestone: collecting and delivering shoe box gifts to more than 100 million children since the program began in 1993. Pinnow will hand-deliver the 100 millionth shoe box gift, including the item from North Carolina, to a child in the Dominican Republic just in time for Christmas
WHEN:
Dec. 4, 10:30 a.m.
WHERE:
Operation Christmas Child Processing Center
7100 Forest Point Blvd.
Charlotte, NC 28217
COVERAGE OPPORTUNITIES INCLUDE:
5:30 – 11:30 A.M. – TV live shots with Charlotte-area kids, volunteers and organizers
Interviews:
· Shoe Box Gift Recipients – While living in a Russian orphanage, Elena Hagemeier received her very first gift – an Operation Christmas Child shoe box. Now adopted and living in Joplin, Miss., she packs shoe box gifts for other needy children overseas. Operation Christmas Child comes full circle.
· Evilyn Pinnow – Spunky and passionate, Pinnow was just eight years old when she founded the Shoe Box Club in her hometown of Fort Atkinson, Wis. The kids-helping-kids club quickly grew to more than 80 members working year-round to collect items and pack shoe box gifts for needy kids. Pinnow also consults with kids in other states about how to start their own Shoe Box Clubs. Now 12-year-old Pinnow has another ambition: rallying volunteers to help Operation Christmas Child meet a major collection milestone, 100 million gift-filled shoe boxes.
· Franklin Graham – President of international relief organization Samaritan’s Purse and head of Operation Christmas Child
· Charlotte kids who are packing shoe box gifts this year for Operation Christmas Child Volunteers who are putting the finishing touches on their shoe box gifts Project organizers who have traveled the world delivering shoe box gifts to hurting children
Visuals:
Volunteers preparing hundreds of thousands of shoe box gifts for delivery to children in 100 countries affected by natural disaster, war, terrorism, disease, poverty and famine.
To follow the 100 millionth shoe box gift around the U.S. and watch as new items are added, visit Facebook.com/OCCShoeBoxes and click on the app, and follow the Twitter hashtag #OCC100M. Once the shoe box gift is filled, Pinnow will hand-deliver it to a special child in need just in time for Christmas.
Operation Christmas Child, a project of international Christian relief and evangelism organization Samaritan’s Purse, headed by Franklin Graham, is the world’s largest Christmas project of its kind. Operation Christmas Child hopes to collect 9 million gift-filled shoe boxes in 2012, with 92,500 coming from Charlotte.
By using tracking technology, participants can “follow” their box to the destination country where it will be given to a child in need. To register shoe box gifts and find out the destination country, use the “Follow Your Box” function found at www.samaritanspurse.org/occ.
For more information on how to participate in Operation Christmas Child, call 704.583.1463 or visit www.samaritanspurse.org/occ. National Collection Week for gift-filled shoe boxes is Nov.12-19; however, shoe box gifts are collected all year at the Samaritan’s Purse headquarters in Boone, N.C.
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