Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/93329
Operation Christmas Child Brings Hope to the World by CAREY CLARK Even though we have barely bid goodbye to Halloween, and have yet to celebrate Thanksgiving, when you walk into any store you will realize that it is time to pay attention to your Christmas wish lists. Toy displays are popping up everywhere, red and green is making its annual reappearance and Christmas tunes can already be heard. Nothing is more fun for children than making their wish lists and checking them twice. It is the annual anguish of parents to try to decide from the mile-long lists made by their offspring which items are truly "must haves" for the year. While making those shopping lists this year, consider these statistics in your holiday planning: • At least 80 percent of humanity lives on less than $10 a day, according to globalissues.org. • The poorest 40 percent of the world's population accounts for 5 percent of global income. The richest 20 percent accounts for three-quarters of world income." While those statistics can be depressing, think of it as an opportunity, and get young people in your life motivated to help others in the process. Each year Operation Christmas Child delivers Christmas shoeboxes fi lled with toys, trinkets and gifts to the poorest children across the globe. Those of us in the 20 percent have an amazing opportunity to bless the other 80 percent. Founded by Franklin Graham, the Samaritan's Purse's mission is "to demonstrate God's love in a tangible way to needy children around the world, and together with the local church worldwide, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ." that age would enjoy. Popular items are coloring books and crayons, small toys, school supplies, hygiene items, socks and hard candy or gum. It is important that objects placed in the box do not contain anything that is For thousands of children around the world, Christmas joy comes in the form of a shoebox. related to war, so please no toy guns or soldiers. Many of the children who receive the boxes live in war-torn countries, and objects that denote violence may be traumatic for them. Also, Operation Christmas Child staff and volunteers personally deliver these boxes into the hands of children via airlifts, which are quite costly. Samaritan's Purse has one of the lowest overheads of many charities in the United States so they ask that each donor add a $7 check or money order to cover the shipping and project costs (no cash please). Take it to a donation center no later than Nov. 19. Voila! Your small sacrifi ce will now touch a child halfway around the world. You would be surprised to see how rewarding it is for your kids and other family members to get involved in this process. Some families choose to fi ll more than one shoebox. They sponsor a box for each of their children or grandchildren. The kids participate by choosing items they would want for a child matching their age and gender. The following churches in our area are accepting OCC donations: Faymont Baptist One of the ways they do this each year is to collect and distribute Christmas shoeboxes to more than 100 million children around the world. How can you participate? It's simple. Choose an age and gender of a child you would like to bless this Christmas. Fill a shoebox with small gifts that a child Church and Cedar Falls Baptist Church in Fayetteville, Hope Mills Presbyterian Church in Hope Mills, Raeford Presbyterian Church in Raeford, Crossroads Church in Lillington, Jonesboro Heights Baptist Church in Sanford. Samaritan's Purse also has a handy drop-off locator on its website for directions. For more information or instructions, visit: http://www. samaritanspurse.org/index.php/occ/ or call 1-800-353-5949. CAREY CLARK, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. Rainbow Reunion and Open House I'm a Rainbow Girl! Sunday, November 18th 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. Join us for food, fun, games and information! Masonic Lodge • 221 Mason Street Downtown Fayetteville 910-482-8242 Rainbow is for girls 11 to 21 who are looking to: have fun, make friends, learn to lead, and make a difference. Established in 1922, Rainbow teaches leadership, public speaking, community service and more! www.gorainbow.org • fayettevilleiorg@gmail.com 12 UCW NOVEMBER 14-20, 2012 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM