CULLMAN, Ala. – On Thursday afternoon, The Tribune paid a visit to the Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child (OCC) drop-off center at Northbrook Baptist Church in Cullman, where a team of volunteers will be working until Monday, collecting shoeboxes of gifts to be distributed to needy children around the world, and preparing them for shipment to the regional center in Atlanta.
According to Northbrook coordinator Laura Cleveland, more than 2,600 boxes had been collected by Thursday afternoon, with the weekend still to go.
Get involved
Last minute OCC drop-offs can still be made until 11 a.m. Monday at Northbrook Baptist Church, 3691 Alabama Highway 157 in Cullman, or at Crosshaven Church, 9131 U.S. Highway 31 in Hanceville. If you did not get a shoebox to fill, but still want to help, you can donate to fill a box online at www.samaritanspurse.org/our-ministry/donate-online.
Samaritan’s Purse is expanding OCC operations in Alabama, and the Cullman area needs more help, and not just around this time of the year.
Said Cleveland, “We have a brand-new team. Our area has been multiplying in north Alabama, so Cullman is in a brand-new area, and we need year-round volunteers.”
To volunteer or for more information, contact Central Alabama Area Team Coordinator Teresa Foust at 256-338-8321.
On its website, Samaritan’s Purse says of OCC, “Through Operation Christmas Child, Samaritan’s Purse is sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with millions of boys and girls in more than 100 countries each year. Many of these children have never before received a present or heard the true meaning of Christmas—until they open a gift-filled shoebox from a person like you. A requested donation of $9 per shoebox provides for collection, processing, and shipping, as well as Gospel materials for the child.”
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