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FeaturesDecember 23, 2017

In Cape Girardeau, volunteers from the Southeast Missouri Area Team collected a record-breaking 17,150 gift-filled shoeboxes that will remind children around the world they are loved and not forgotten. The Samaritan's Purse project, Operation Christmas Child, surpassed last year's Southeast Missouri Area Team donations of shoebox gifts. ...

Operation Christmas Child collects over 17,000 boxes, breaks record

In Cape Girardeau, volunteers from the Southeast Missouri Area Team collected a record-breaking 17,150 gift-filled shoeboxes that will remind children around the world they are loved and not forgotten.

The Samaritan's Purse project, Operation Christmas Child, surpassed last year's Southeast Missouri Area Team donations of shoebox gifts. The Southeast Missouri Area Team is now thanking the Cape Girardeau community for their generous contributions on their way to children in need worldwide. For many of these children, the shoebox gift will be the first gift they ever receive.

Although collections have finished for the season, there is still time to pack a shoebox gift online for children affected by war, disease, disaster, poverty and famine. Those who prefer the convenience of online shopping can browse samaritanspurse.org/build online to select gifts matched to a child's specific age and gender, then finish packing the virtual shoebox by adding a photo and personal note of encouragement. They can also donate $9 per shoebox gift online through "Follow Your Box" and receive a tracking label to discover its destination.

Another way to share the gift of giving is by purchasing a $25 gift card for a family member or friend so they can join in the excitement of Operation Christmas Child by packing a shoebox online. These shoeboxes, filled with school supplies, hygiene items and fun toys, are delivered to children in some of the hardest-to-reach countries around the world.

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More information at samaritanspurse.org/occ or by calling (816) 622-8316.

The Salvation Army receives help from Schnucks, Rotary Club

Each year the Salvation Army packs hundreds of food boxes at Christmas. This year over 500 food boxes will be packed with canned goods, dry goods, milk, paper towels, and either a turkey or chicken purchased with funds received from the Rotary Club of Cape Girardeau County and Schnucks, according to a Salvation Army news release.

"This year we received a $2,000 donation from the Rotary Club of Cape Girardeau County and $1,000 from Schnucks that we used to purchase turkeys and chickens for our Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas Food boxes," said Lt. Matt DeGonia of the Salvation Army in the release.

The donation from the Rotary Club of Cape Girardeau County came from grant funds that were matched by the club, while the Schnucks donation came from money collected by store employees.

"Our employees raise these funds on their own throughout the year, and they help us decide who we will help with them," Cape Girardeau Schnucks store manager John Townsend said in the release.

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