This year’s Operation Christmas Child has come to a close and a record breaking number of shoeboxes filled with Christmas gifts have been collected.
The final number of shoeboxes sent from the Algarve this year to underprivileged children living in areas of poverty around the world was 1,667, which is 306 more than last year’s amount.
These boxes are now on their way to children who would usually not receive a Christmas present.
Algarve resident Gill Rhodes, who is a volunteer for Samaritan’s Purse, a registered charity in the UK and the United States, which runs the Shoe Box Appeal, said: “Well done everyone. It was really special that this year we had supporters from Lisbon and even as far north as Porto, who, in all, supplied 206 of the grand total.
“We know that times are quite hard for us all at the moment and on behalf of Samaritan’s Purse, I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who supported the campaign. Special thanks must go again to DLS Couriers of Almancil, who, for another year, have transported our boxes back to the UK free of charge. They are stars,” she added.
Samaritan’s Purse are hoping to deliver their 100 millionth shoebox this year since this project started over 20 years ago.
If you would like to see photos of children receiving their boxes or read stories about them, then please visit the website:
