Wyre Forest shoeboxes boost children's Christmas (From Kidderminster Shuttle)

Wyre Forest shoeboxes boost children's Christmas

7:20am Tuesday 22nd December 2009

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WYRE Forest residents are helping make Christmas happier for children facing difficult lives in several countries.

Operation Christmas Child is sending more than 11,700 shoeboxes full of presents from Worcestershire.

The shoeboxes full of presents have been donated by members of the public, schools, companies, churches and organisations from communities across the county, including Kidderminster and Bewdley.

The shoeboxes were checked in at Operation Christmas Child processing centres, one of which is in Kidderminster, and sent to children in Belarus, Crimea, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia and Ukraine.

“On behalf of Operation Christmas Child and all our volunteers, I just want to send a huge thank you to every single person who donated a shoebox this year,” said the charity’s area co-ordinator, Bob James.

“This has been a hard year for many people in Worcestershire and we are just knocked out by the fact so many of them have put together a shoebox.

“It has such a positive effect on the child that receives it and I want everyone here to know that their gifts make a real difference.

“When they arrive in the destination country, the shoeboxes are distributed on the basis of need by local organisations, charities and churches to children aged between two and 14, many living in orphanages, street shelters, hospitals, displaced persons camps or whose families are facing hardship due to poverty.

“The joy that the shoeboxes bring lightens their lives and the care and consideration that people here put into choosing their gifts shines through in the personal touches and in the items they send.”

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