Filling up a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child by Samaritan's Purse and dropping it off might not be as easy this year as only Speedee Delivery in Airdrie is accepting boxes.

 Speedee Delivery has been accepting shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child for three years so when partner and manager Kimberly Hanson heard that they were the only spot in Airdrie participating, she was surprised.

"I was checking on the website from some information that I wanted to pass on to one of the schools that is working with us and that was how I came across that, thus far, we are the only Airdrie drop," said Hanson.

In previous years there were at least two spots in Airdrie where anyone could drop of a shoebox filled with various items, ranging from toys to toothbrushes, but for the first time, it seems like this won't be the case. Hanson says that a decline in the economy might be responsible for the decline in drop-off spots.

"We did notice last year it used to be five dollars to send a box and now that minimum donation has actually gone to ten dollars and I think, just with the state of our economy, (people) want to give, and it's just right now they're a little more limited."

With only one place for boxes to be dropped off, making sure proper items are packed within becomes more and more important. Operation Christmas Child has a list of appropriate gifts to pack on their Samaritan"s Purse website and Hanson mentioned it was a good idea to not just pack gifts of items, but gifts of connections.

"They actually have (a spot) where you can add a letter or a photo of your family. That's something that's kind of materialized in the last couple of years, and I (think) that's awesome because then these kids, (who) don't have anything near what kids here do, can see that this family wanted to do something for them."

Speedee Delivery will be accepting shoeboxes from Nov. 12 to Nov. 18.

 

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