MEDIA RELEASE

Operation Christmas Child

`Tis the season and Operation Christmas Child is in full swing at the Hawaiʻi Police Department. Total shoeboxes collected for East Hawaiʻi this year is 6,103 and for the Big Island a total of 10,827.

Project Operation Christmas Child collects shoebox gifts—filled with fun toys, school supplies, and hygiene items—and delivers them to children in need around the world. For many of these children, the gift-filled shoebox is the first gift they have ever received.

Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child, the world’s most massive Christmas project of its kind, has collected and delivered more than 146 million shoebox gifts to children in more than 160 countries and territories.

In 2017, Operation Christmas Child hopes to collect enough shoebox gifts to reach another 12 million children in countries like Peru, the Philippines, Rwanda, and Ukraine. Nearly 11.5 million shoebox gifts were collected worldwide in 2016, with more than 9.1 million received in the U.S.

Mahalo to all of you who donated to brighten the holidays for a needy child.