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Operation Christmas Child is in full swing

Area churches offer drop off hours through weekend

PHOTO PROVIDED Crystal Haagen poses with children who received a shoe box during her trip to Ukraine in 2018.

‘Tis the season for Operation Christmas Child, a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse, where shoe boxes are packed full of items for children ages 2-4; 5-9; and 10-14 that are then handed out to children all over the world for Christmas.

Operation Christmas Child’s National Collection Week is Nov. 14-21 so there’s still time for you to pack a box for a child this Christmas.

Crystal Haagen of Snydertown has built shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child for about 18 years now, and she has been on the Central Pennsylvania Collection Team for the last 17 years. For the last 16 years she has been the area coordinator for the region — which encompasses Renovo, Lock Haven, Bellefonte, State College, Spring Mills and all the little towns and communities that span this area.

Crystal got her start by packing shoe boxes with her children, grandchildren and the youth group members at her church. She’d traveled to the processing plants in both Maryland and North Carolina.

Crystal has had the opportunity to be a “missionary” to hand out the shoe boxes to children overseas. She took her first mission trip to Peru in 2007 and was able to go to the Ukraine in 2018 to hand out shoe boxes.

Crystal spoke recently at a Senior Cheer Club meeting in Beech Creek to share her experiences of handing out the shoe boxes in Ukraine.

“It was the hardest thing I ever saw in my life. The people live in very, very poor conditions. You just cannot imagine,” said Crystal to the group.

The Senior Cheer group brought in items of school supplies, small games, toys, stuffed animals, tooth brushes and hair accessories — enough items to fill 11 shoe boxes for children in the age 10-14 age group. This is the group which receives the least boxes.

“Last year the teams in my area collected 11,000 shoe boxes. We’ve raised our goal to pack another 2,000 boxes this year,” she said.

Boxes collected locally get sent to Hublersburg’s Trinity Reformed Church just off Route 64. From there the boxes get transported to a processing center in Baltimore, Md. There’s also another huge processing center in Charlotte, N.C., at the Samaritan’s Purse headquarters, where shoe boxes are shipped all over the world to be given out to children.

Crystal praises her team of volunteers that are involved in the packing and collection of the shoe boxes.

In the Lock Haven area Sarah Snyder is the contact person and she can be reached at 570-748-6455. Shoe boxes can be dropped off in Lock Haven at House of the Lord Fellowship today from 10 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.; on Friday from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.; and for Saturday and Sunday hours you can call Sarah.

In State College, the contact person is Babbette Manning who can be reached at 814-234-1900. The hours for collection at Park Forest Baptist Church are from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. on weekdays this week. Saturday and Sunday hours are also available by calling Babbette.

In Hublersburg at Trinity Reformed Church the drop off times for Thursday are from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. and on Friday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Hours are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday and may be obtained by calling Betty Bailey at 814-777-1600.

Questions can also be directed to Crystal at 814-383-4719 or by sending an e-mail to her at grammycrystal@yahoo.com.

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