{"id":39828,"date":"2024-12-25T02:36:22","date_gmt":"2024-12-25T07:36:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/kent-sends-56000-gift-boxes-to-children-globally\/25\/12\/2024\/"},"modified":"2024-12-25T02:36:22","modified_gmt":"2024-12-25T07:36:22","slug":"kent-sends-56000-gift-boxes-to-children-globally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/kent-sends-56000-gift-boxes-to-children-globally\/25\/12\/2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Kent sends 56,000 gift boxes to children globally"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">A Kent sorting office has sent 56,000 shoeboxes to children across the world as part of the international Samaritan&#8217;s Purse initiative Operation Christmas Child.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">The processing centre, based in Tonbridge, sent donated gift-filled boxes to Central Asia, Eastern Europe and Serbia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Madeleine McClintock, a spokesperson from the Tonbridge centre, told the BBC that donations in Kent were 5% up from 2023 and that some of the boxes donated were &#8220;absolutely beautiful&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">The initiative, described by the charity as a &#8220;hands-on way for you to bless children in need across the world&#8221;, involves people filling a shoebox with toys, toiletries, school supplies and fun gifts.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative col-body mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-[4] size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Volunteers load the checked shoeboxes into lorries [Madeleine McClintock]<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Samaritan&#8217;s Purse is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organisation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Every year the charity partners with local churches to spread awareness of its shoebox appeal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Ms McClintock said &#8220;for people to know about Jesus&#8221; was &#8220;really important to me&#8221; but acknowledged that the shoebox initiative surpasses religion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">&#8220;Everyone is welcome to come and help,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">&#8220;People do it for a range of reasons, but often because they love being able to give a gift.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Operation Christmas Child began in 1993 when the charity sent 28,000 boxes to children in the Balkans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">According to the charity, since 1993 more than 220 million children in more than 170 countries and territories have received a shoebox.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative col-body mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Five volunteers smiling at the camera. They are standing around a table which has wrapped shoeboxes on. \" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/DNhRqFk4FoAqd0n1LJRfGQ--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MA--\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/bbc_us_articles_995\/8249f30219d30d726492f94cbbd71349\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-[4] size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Each gift-filled box is checked by a volunteer [Madeleine McClintock]<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"col-body mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">How does it work?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Each year Samaritan&#8217;s Purse releases a list, via its website and leaflets, of what it it is looking for in donated boxes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">People who want to get involved must find a medium-sized box and donate \u00a35 to cover postage costs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">If purchased online, people can download a personalised barcode to track where their gift ends up.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Once filled, people donate their boxes to a local drop-off point, usually a church, warehouse or shop.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">At at organisation centre, volunteers then sort through all the boxes checking for liquids, sweets and other banned items.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Ms McClintock said: &#8220;Things that are taken out we put in a special rehoming tub and they&#8217;re given to local charities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">&#8220;We have to take all Christian literature out of the box so that they&#8217;re neutral,&#8221; she added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">The boxes are then secured, placed into cartons, loaded onto a lorry and sent off around the world.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Volunteers in each country then distribute the boxes in time for Christmas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\"><em>Follow BBC Kent on <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BBCinKent\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Facebook;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"><em>Facebook<\/em><\/a><em>, on <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BBCRadioKent\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:X;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"><em>X<\/em><\/a><em>, and on <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/bbcinkent\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Instagram;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"><em>Instagram<\/em><\/a><em>. Send your story ideas to <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/mailto:southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk\" data-ylk=\"slk:southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><em>southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk<\/em><\/a><em> or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"col-body mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">Related stories<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/kent-sends-56-000-gift-065019331.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Kent sorting office has sent 56,000 shoeboxes to children across the world as part of the international Samaritan&rsquo;s Purse initiative Operation<br \/><button class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/kent-sends-56000-gift-boxes-to-children-globally\/25\/12\/2024\/\">Read More &rsaquo;<\/a><\/button><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39828"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}