{"id":199038,"date":"2025-11-02T21:33:05","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T02:33:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=199038"},"modified":"2025-11-02T21:33:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T02:33:08","slug":"operation-christmas-child-approaching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2025\/11\/02\/operation-christmas-child-approaching\/","title":{"rendered":"Operation Christmas Child approaching"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>VW independent staff\/submitted information<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Volunteers are preparing to collect&nbsp;Operation Christmas Child&nbsp;shoebox gifts during National Collection Week, November 17-24. Nearly 5,000 drop-off locations will open across the country in November, including one in Van Wert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since 1993,&nbsp;Operation Christmas Child&nbsp;has been collecting and delivering gift-filled shoeboxes to children including many who are suffering from war, poverty, disease and disaster. Operation Christmas Child hopes to reach another 12 million children in 2025 with the hope of Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"250\" height=\"230\" src=\"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Operation-Christmas-Child-logo-2024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-185642\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Shoebox packing is fun for individuals, families and groups.&nbsp;Find a step-by-step guide on the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/urldefense.proofpoint.com\/v2\/url?u=https-3A__samaritanspurse.org_operation-2Dchristmas-2Dchild_pack-2Da-2Dshoe-2Dbox_-3Futm-5Fsource-3DOCC-2DToolKit-26utm-5Fmedium-3Dreferral-26utm-5Fcampaign-3Dm-5FYOCC-2DPRRE-26utm-5Fcontent-3DOCC-2DHow-2Dto-2DPack&amp;d=DwMFaQ&amp;c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&amp;r=FC13PzDbVZ8qhVsUeHYgLJLYUVcrkfTA5q3JvQduqoI&amp;m=B6vPKBsFbJLf5sqvveUhCwI5xoH-R9muUwbRuJIkArngXQ7u9jTGqdlxFntJoiSO&amp;s=oBbsXyW5PKKZy7hRf1kypJu-nz3QrzxhqTNMXbBYjbE&amp;e=\">How to Pack a Shoebox<\/a>&nbsp;webpage. The project partners with local churches across the globe to deliver these tangible expressions of God\u2019s love to children in need.&nbsp;Participants can donate $10 per shoebox gift online through \u201cFollow Your Box\u201d and receive a tracking label to discover its destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSamaritan\u2019s Purse works around the world to help people in need, but it\u2019s not about good works\u2014 it\u2019s about the Gospel,\u201d said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan\u2019s Purse. \u201cPlease 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Participants can&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/urldefense.proofpoint.com\/v2\/url?u=https-3A__samaritanspurse.org_operation-2Dchristmas-2Dchild_drop-2Doff-2Dlocations_-3Futm-5Fsource-3DOCC-2DToolKit-26utm-5Fcampaign-3Dm-5FYOCC-2DPRRE-26utm-5Fcontent-3DOCC-2DDrop-2Doff-2Dlocations&amp;d=DwMFaQ&amp;c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&amp;r=FC13PzDbVZ8qhVsUeHYgLJLYUVcrkfTA5q3JvQduqoI&amp;m=B6vPKBsFbJLf5sqvveUhCwI5xoH-R9muUwbRuJIkArngXQ7u9jTGqdlxFntJoiSO&amp;s=FgwmUZF_ag1cy5OcgnPkmz99k7QgNySqaYVwnAXS_Rw&amp;e=\">find the nearest drop-off location<\/a>&nbsp;and hours of operation as they make plans to drop off their shoebox gifts. The online lookup tool is searchable by city or ZIP code. Signs at each location will identify the drop-off. Local drop-off locations and hours in Van Wert&nbsp;are listed below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Calvary Evangelical Church, 10686 Van Wert Decatur Road:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Monday, November 17,&nbsp;&nbsp;10 a.m. to 12 p.m.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tuesday, November 18: 4-6 p.m.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Wednesday, November 19, 3-5 p.m.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Thursday, November 20, 4-6 p.m.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Friday, November 21, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Saturday, November 22,&nbsp;9-11 a.m.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sunday, November 23,&nbsp;12-2 p.m.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Monday, November 24,&nbsp;9-11 a.m.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has collected and delivered more than 232 million gift-filled shoeboxes to children in more than 170 countries and territories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>VW independent staff\/submitted information Volunteers are preparing to collect&nbsp;Operation Christmas Child&nbsp;shoebox gifts during National Collection Week, November 17-24. Nearly 5,000 drop-off locations will open across the country in November, including one in Van Wert. Since 1993,&nbsp;Operation Christmas Child&nbsp;has been collecting and delivering gift-filled shoeboxes to children including many who are suffering from war, poverty, disease [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-199038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 08:39:15","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199038"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":199040,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199038\/revisions\/199040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}