South Vineland United Methodist Church is accepting shoeboxes full of gifts to send to children around the world through "Operation Christmas Child," an international campaign sponsored by the Samaritan's Purse organization.
The church collected about 1,500 boxes as of Saturday night and expects to hit the 3,100 mark it achieved last year, said Art Schalick, a co-organizer of the collection site.
The organization asks donors to fill a shoebox with gifts, such as hygiene products, clothes, toys and nonperishable food. The boxes will be sent to children in 107 countries, Schalick said. Last year, the organization mailed about 8 million boxes, he said.
Schalick said people are excited about contributing to the program. "This may be the one gift a child will get this year, or maybe their whole life," he said.
There are other collection locations in Cape May Court House, Mullica Hill, Mount Laurel and Absecon. The Vineland church has a truck that will take all of the region's donations today to the organization's East Coast processing center in Charlotte, N.C.
Quinton resident Peter Guy and his 15-year-old son, Zach, brought more than 200 boxes from Victory Assembly of God Church in Elmer on Sunday.
Guy said his family has been involved in the program for the past 10 years. He included hygiene products, candy, toys and coloring books in his box. Guy also said he included a card so the child who receives the box can get in touch with him.
"These boxes are going all over the world," he said. "You don't know who's going to get it."
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