Lisa McClelland, 58, left, of Zion United Methodist Church, helps Karrie Hickey, of Jefferson Center Presbyterian Church, carry donation shoeboxes for the Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child event at Zion United Methodist Church in Sarver on Monday, Nov. 14, 2022. The donations are collected throughout the year and are shipped throughout the world to at-risk children at orphanages and hospitals. Cary Shaffer/Butler Eagle

Nearly 200 million children will receive kindness in a shoebox again this year.

The program Operation Christmas Child, which sends Christmas gifts to children in more than 170 countries and territories, kicked off Monday morning at multiple participating churches throughout Butler County.

Led by Christian humanitarian organization Samaritan’s Purse, which began the program in 1993, the outreach brings blessings to children who might not otherwise get anything for Christmas.

“Regardless of your faith background, often people are trying to find a way to do something good for somebody else during the Christmas season,” said the Rev. Joe Floris of Community Alliance Church in Butler.

Floris is helping lead Butler and Armstrong county’s role in the program, which he said led to the collection of more than 3,000 shoeboxes shipping out last year.

Each shoebox contains a “Greatest Gift” booklet, translated into 80 languages that describes the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. It also includes “wow” items that can range from stuffed animals to soccer balls. Other items in the shoebox — such as toiletries or school supplies — can provide help for those in need.

“As a parent of two young children myself, I feel like it’s a challenge,” Floris said. “We live in a society where, thankfully, we are just blessed to have so many of our material needs cared for. And Christmas is a time when many kids experience a lot of receiving.”

Whether someone identifies as a Christian or just would like to bless someone else, this is a great opportunity, he said. It even gives parents the chance to bring their children shopping for these gifts with them to demonstrate the giving spirit, he said.

“So it’s a very tangible way to do something with kids, to teach them the importance of giving to others when Christmas sort of just reinforces so much about receiving,” Floris said.

The Butler-Armstrong region’s effort, which will involve more than100 volunteers, continues through Nov. 21.

Karrie Hickey, of Butler, with Jefferson Center Presbyterian Church, stacks donation shoeboxes for Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child at Zion United Methodist Church in Sarver on Monday, Nov. 14, 2022. Hickey delivered 56 boxes that her church put together to the collection point at Zion. Cary Shaffer/Butler Eagle

Floris said it’s an enormous blessing for COVID-19’s peak to have subsided.

Normally, his volunteers would receive a shipment of masks along with other supplies, such as tape guns and labels, at this time of year. People used those masks in 2020 and 2021.

But for the first time since 2020, he didn’t receive masks with the shipment.

Opening that box and not seeing masks was really nice, he said, because it meant the church had navigated to the other side of difficult adjustments from the last couple years — especially 2020.

COVID-19 spiked in the Butler region that November, resulting in a hiatus from Sunday services for the church the following month.

“And it was just a lot,” he said. “A lot of prayer and trust. We navigated through it, but it makes you especially thankful this year that we’re not even having to have those conversations at this point.”

“I got to say, some years it’s a lot of work to do everything,” said Jan Pennington, who serves as site coordinator for Walkchalk Salem Baptist Church in Kittanning. “To reach out to all the churches and organizations, to make sure you have volunteers to collect the donations, to have people to load the truck.”

Recent rain and icy temperatures have made the start of this year’s effort particularly challenging.

“But the biggest lesson I’ve learned is that you have to hand it to God,” said Pennington, who has served in her role at Walkchalk Salem Baptist Church for 21 years. “Then He will provide.”

She said God’s blessings make the week worth the work.

She said that of all the “wow” items donors include for children, stuffed animals seem most popular.

“Because it seems like that’s something they can hold on to, they can love,” she said. “Even if you’re a 4-year-old kid or a 14-year-old kid, a stuffed animal’s always kind of a nice thing to send along.”

Anyone looking to donate to Operation Christmas Child can contact John or Jane Woitas, who serves as area coordinator for Butler and Armstrong counties, at 724-352-9005. Donors also can contribute by visiting samaritanspurse.org/occ. Each shoebox costs $25 and includes the $10 shipping and distribution costs.

Shannon Kooser, dropoff team leader for Operation Christmas Child, oversees a packing party in Sarver last year. Churches in Butler County will be among 5,000 U.S. drop-off locations collecting shoebox gifts for children overseas during Operation Christmas Child's national collection week, Nov. 18-25. Butler Eagle file photo