Tuesday, December 9, 2014
So I walked into this unassuming warehouse in Suwanee on Tuesday thinking that I would take some images of a few people packing up a few shoe boxes of toys and school supplies. Instead I was greeted by groups of volunteers on an assembly line as boxes were stuffed into bigger boxes after being sorted through and these boxes were piled on top of other stacks of boxes all for Operation Christmas Child. Started by Samaritan’s Purse, a non profit out of North Carolina, the donation fundraiser for children all over the world has grown exponentially over the past few years. With nine packing centers all over the United States, Operation Christmas Child touches millions of lives each year. For example, just in the Suwanee location, Samaritan’s Purse receives about 500 volunteers each day to help with the sorting, boxing and shipping of these shoe boxes and this year alone has already prepared just under one million gifts. Tuesday the gifts were being prepared for children living in Mali and Burkina Faso. There are over a dozen more countries that these gifts, filled with toys, school supplies and essentials, are sent to each and every year. And I thought it worth mentioning that on a Tuesday, I met and spoke with volunteers from Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina who came just to help with this effort. Take that Grinch!
Anna Payton Weaver (left) and her mother Sharon drop off shoe boxes full of toys, school supplies and essentials that will be shipped to countries all over the world at the Samaritan’s Purse packaging center in Suwanee for their Operation Christmas Child campaign on Tuesday, December 9, 2014.
Jennifer Twitchell sorts through shoe boxes full of toys, school supplies and essentials that will be shipped to countries all over the world at the Samaritan’s Purse packaging center in Suwanee for their Operation Christmas Child campaign on Tuesday, December 9, 2014.
Volunteers work to package shoe boxes full of toys and essentials that will be shipped to countries all over the world at the Samaritan’s Purse packaging center in Suwanee for their Operation Christmas Child campaign on Tuesday, December 9, 2014.
Anna Taylor (right) and Myrissa Webb sort through shoe boxes full of toys, school supplies and essentials that will be shipped to countries all over the world at the Samaritan’s Purse packaging center in Suwanee for their Operation Christmas Child campaign on Tuesday, December 9, 2014.
Mary Singleton sorts through shoe boxes full of toys, school supplies and essentials that will be shipped to countries all over the world at the Samaritan’s Purse packaging center in Suwanee for their Operation Christmas Child campaign on Tuesday, December 9, 2014.
Shawn Cox (right) and Rose Graffius pick up shoe boxes full of toys, school supplies and essentials that will be shipped to countries all over the world before sorting through them at the Samaritan’s Purse packaging center in Suwanee for their Operation Christmas Child campaign on Tuesday, December 9, 2014.
Jennifer Twitchell sorts through shoe boxes full of toys, school supplies and essentials that will be shipped to countries all over the world at the Samaritan’s Purse packaging center in Suwanee for their Operation Christmas Child campaign on Tuesday, December 9, 2014.
Jenny Hanson (right) sorts through shoe boxes full of toys, school supplies and essentials that will be shipped to countries all over the world at the Samaritan’s Purse packaging center in Suwanee for their Operation Christmas Child campaign on Tuesday, December 9, 2014.
Titus Campbell (center) pushes boxes full of shoe boxes filled with toys, school supplies and essentials that will be shipped to countries all over the world at the Samaritan’s Purse packaging center in Suwanee for their Operation Christmas Child campaign on Tuesday, December 9, 2014.
Wayne Coleman (left) sorts through shoe boxes full of toys, school supplies and essentials that will be shipped to countries all over the world at the Samaritan’s Purse packaging center in Suwanee for their Operation Christmas Child campaign on Tuesday, December 9, 2014.
Sarah Klinect (left) sorts through a shoe box full of toys and essentials that will be shipped to countries all over the world at the Samaritan’s Purse packaging center in Suwanee for their Operation Christmas Child campaign on Tuesday, December 9, 2014.
Karen Tabb tapes up a shoe box full of toys and essentials that will be shipped to countries all over the world at the Samaritan’s Purse packaging center in Suwanee for their Operation Christmas Child campaign on Tuesday, December 9, 2014.
Joseph Quainoo (center) stacks a box filled with shoe boxes full of toys, school supplies and essentials that will be shipped to countries all over the world onto a pallet at the Samaritan’s Purse packaging center in Suwanee for their Operation Christmas Child campaign on Tuesday, December 9, 2014.
Frances Callison picks up a shoe box full of toys and essentials that will be shipped to countries all over the world before sorting through it at the Samaritan’s Purse packaging center in Suwanee for their Operation Christmas Child campaign on Tuesday, December 9, 2014.