This weekend, early Christmas enthusiasts can shop for books and other gifts alike while benefiting a cause today and tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
In a festive 2017 Christmas Market, the old Books-a-Million on Skyland Boulevard. will play host to a market of vendors to support Operation Christmas Child.
Operation Christmas Child, an evangelical Christian humanitarian aid organization, encourages churches and groups across the globe to pack shoeboxes with gifts and basic necessities to send to children in countries in need of humanitarian aid. Several organizations on campus are involved in the process.
Shoeboxes are filled with small toys, coloring books, clothing, shoes, hygienic items and candy in a compact gift given to children throughout and beyond the Christmas season.
With National Collection Week approaching from Nov. 13-20, the 2017 Christmas Market will donate a portion of purchases to fill and support the shoebox mission.
Churches and groups across the Tuscaloosa area have united for this common cause. Last week, children from Tuscaloosa’s University Church of Christ packed over 100 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. First Wesleyan Church will collect any packaged shoeboxes until Nov. 12, RealHope will host a packing party Wednesday, Nov. 16 and Northport Baptist Church will host a final shoebox dedication Sunday, Nov. 19.
According to Samaritan’s Purse, the organization behind Operation Christmas Child, the organization collects shoeboxes at more than 4,000 drop-off sites in all 50 states and Puerto Rico during National Collection Week.
Additionally, since 1993, the project has collected and delivered more than 135 million shoeboxes to children in more than 150 countries and territories. More than 500,000 volunteers worldwide will take part in the collection, shipment and distribution of the shoebox gifts.
For more information on this weekend’s 2017 Christmas Market, visit the event page. For more information on Samaritan’s Purse and Operation Christmas Child, visit https://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/.
