Newberg Graphic Online

Turn a shoebox into the gift of a lifetime

Christmas giving — Operation Christmas Child kicks off the season

• By: Amanda Newman  
• Published: 11/9/2009 1:46:09 PM
• Last Updated: 11/11/2009 10:44:25 AM

   For us, it’s a disposable shoebox filled with toys, some clothing, and a few hygiene articles. For them, it’s a box full of treasures that helps set Dec. 25 off from all the other days. Something that lets them forget their poverty-stricken, war-torn lives for awhile. For many, it’s the only Christmas gift they’ll ever get.
   Operation Christmas Child, an international holiday outreach program that collects and distributes shoeboxes filled with gifts to children in Third World and impoverished nations, kicks off this week. Locally, Bill and Maxine Mulholland will continue their mission to further the cause, by acting as the Newberg collection center and traveling to California to volunteer in the processing center.
   Maxine was involved in the program for several years through local schools, but when the couple went down to Orange County, Calif. two years ago to work in the processing center, a cluster of “giant warehouses” where each box is individually inspected, they decided to become more active. Last year, they opened their home, 608 Dolash Court, as a collection center and returned for a stint at the processing center. This year they will do both again, bringing their twin granddaughters along on the California excursion.
   “A lot of people are already building boxes,” Bill said, explaining that most local contributions come from school and youth groups, including a chunk from George Fox University. Last year, the Newberg yield exceeded 600. This year, the Mulhollands want 800.
   “We don’t know, it could be that the economy will affect that,” Bill said. “(But) the response we’re getting right now is pretty much like last year.”
   The boxes are designed with a specific child demographic in mind: boys or girls; ages 2-4, 5-9 or 10-14. They can include clothing, toys, school supplies, hygiene articles, hard candy, and personal letters. Anything liquid or war-related (including camouflage gear) is not allowed — “You have to be sensitive; a lot of these areas are going through civil wars,” Bill said. Donors are also asked to contribute $7 to cover shipping and handling.
   The Mulhollands collect the boxes in their home, then take them to a Tualatin regional collection center. They are sent to California for processing, then dispatched to more than 100 countries throughout the world, where they are distributed with the help of local churches and organizations.
   “We’ve spent some time in third world countries and realized the intensity of it. For many kids, this may be the only gift they’ll get in their lifetime,” Bill said. “This is an incredible program.”
   Operation Christmas Child is a branch of Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian world relief and aid organization run by Billy Graham’s son, Franklin.
   The collection period runs Nov. 16 through 10 a.m. Nov. 23. For more information or to find collection center hours, including those for the Mulhollands, visit www.samaritanspurse.org.

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