A nationwide effort to bring Christmas to children around the world gets underway this week.
For the past 14 years, Operation Christmas Child has been bringing shoe boxes filled with gifts to children around the world. Rick Cox, the upper-Midwest regional Manager for the program, says the program really demonstrates the power of a simple gift, by bringing joy to children in nearly 100 impoverished nations around the world.
Wisconsin residents have a strong tradition of being involved in the program. Cox says nearly 50,000 shoe boxes were donated from this state last year alone.
There will be 31 drop-off sites in Wisconsin were boxes can be taken. Cox says you can find the nearest location using a zip code locator on the group's website. The program is carried out by Samaritan's Purse, an international Christian relief organization.