Women pitch in with shoe-box gifts

By FRANCES JAQUES Staff Writer

This isn't a project they've undertaken on their own. It's a worldwide effort known as Operation Christmas Child that began in 1993 with the objective of bringing gifts to children in impoverished countries. It's an operation of Samaritan's Purse, an international Christian relief organization. Last year the shoe boxes reached 7.6 million children in 95 countries, according to the agency's statistics.

Locally, the collections are under way at Chesapeake Christian Fellowship, 377 W. Central Ave., Davidsonville, where two tractor-trailers sit ready to be packed.

"We're hoping to fill each trailer and call for a third," said Becky Minemier, a member of the Davidsonville church and chairman of the local operation.

She estimates that each trailer will hold about 4,000 boxes. All week long, pickup trucks, station wagons and SUVs have arrived at the church filled with the carefully and lovingly packaged shoe boxes. The trucks will leave Tuesday, but until then, they stand ready for loading.

Donna Leadmon, who lives in Davidsonville but attends Grace Brethren Church in Owings, needed two station wagons to deliver the load from her church to the Davidsonville site.

"I was praying for 50 boxes and we ended up with 126," she said. "You can never underestimate the power of the Lord."

As soon as she finished unloading her boxes, another station wagon pulled up, filled with 118 boxes from Grace Bible Church of Seabrook.

June and Thomas Matzen of Lothian drove up one day with 24 boxes all provided by Mrs. Matzen. She works on the boxes throughout the year, buying small personal items, toys and candies and then assembling them as she has time.

"She told me she is already getting started on next year's packages," said Mrs. Minemier.

Operation Christmas Child has handed out more than 46 million shoe box gifts in its 13-year history. Each one has been designated for a boy or girl and listed in an age category - 2 to 4, 5 to 9 and 10 to 14.

Sandy Lofgren Sargent, a county realtor and member of the Chesapeake Christian Fellowship, has been contributing gifts for more than five years and this year sent 150.

"We do this within the company instead of exchanging Christmas gifts," she said.

She has developed a packing system, starting with hygiene items, such as towels, brushes, combs, then adding appropriate toys and topping off the box with a selection of hard candies.

No liquids or soft candies can be included. Mrs. Lofgren Sargent buys plastic containers in the size of shoe boxes because she said they can be reused by the recipients. A cash donation of $7 for each box is requested to cover shipping costs.

The boxes are shipped to a processing center (the Davidsonville gifts are going to Charlotte, N.C.), where they're checked to verify the contents, and a booklet about Christ, written in the language used in the destination country, is added.

"They are really gifts of love," said Peggy Turner of Chester, one of the packers at the Davidsonville church. "It's a very exciting project to work on."

Although the operation is Christian-based, businesses such as Chick Fil-A encourage employees to contribute.

"All the Chick Fil-A's in Maryland are sending boxes, and we get some from employees at the Anne Arundel Medical Center and Wal-Mart," said Mrs. Minemier.

For local information about Operation Christmas Child, call 410-798-1413 or 410-956-3896.