Drop-Off Sites For Operation Christmas Child

WELLS -

As the Thanksgiving season approaches, many families and children are giving thanks and giving back to children in need around the world through Operation Christmas Child. Shoebox gifts prepared by generous donors and filled with toys, hygiene items, and school supplies may be dropped off now during National Collection Week, through Monday, November 21. More than 4,500 drop-off sites are now open. The Samaritan’s Purse project will

. LEFTOVERS from page 18 meals. Turkey is a versatile ingredient that can be made into everything from breakfast burritos to casseroles. Turn potatoes and sausage stuffing into latke patties that can be whipped up for breakfast or lunch. Sweet potatoes, squash and pumpkin can be mashed and reworked into batters for quick breads, pancakes and even doughnuts. Spoon leftover cranberry sauce over hot oatmeal in the morning or use it as a substitute for grape jelly in PB&J sandwiches. Try grinding up stale biscuits to make a breading for turkey slices and turn them into fried cutlets. Take care of the needy collect its 200-millionth shoebox this year!

Find out which organizations accept food donations.

Operation Christmas Child has been collecting and delivering shoebox gifts to children worldwide for nearly three decades. In 2022, Operation Christmas Child hopes to collect enough shoeboxes to reach another 11 million children.

There’s still time for individuals, families, and groups to transform empty shoeboxes into fun gifts.

Samaritan’s Purse partners with local churches across the globe to deliver these tangible expres-

Even if you cannot donate previously prepared foods, if you have surplus packaged, boxed or canned items, you can bring them to food pantries and soup kitchens to help others.

Organize a post-holiday pot luck sions of love to children in need.

Turn leftovers into an opportunity to fraternize with friends or relatives who couldn’t make it to Thanksgiving dinner. Pool your leftover resources and enjoy the fruits of everyone’s labor. A pot luck can be a great place to gather after shopping Plaid Friday sales in the community. Thanksgiving leftovers can provide a few extra delicious meals when hosts plan ahead.

“This season, children around the world need a tangible reminder that there is hope and that God loves them,” said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse. “Through these shoebox gifts packed with special items, children also receive the opportunity to hear about that eternal hope.”

Participants can find the

. . . NATURE from page 4 unique perspective on environmental issues. “We are in a climate crisis,” she declares. “We are all grieving. There is an unacknowledged grief over all the things we are killing.” Her grasp of the grieving process gives her special insight. She believes that grieving has a huge impact on society. “Grieving is the hardest thing we do as humans, and we don’t do it well,” she admits sadly.

Grenfell strongly admonishes us that it is time to take the climate crisis seriously. “Facing our grief,” she says, “may be the answer to solving this crisis.”

At the Wells Reserve, Environmental Educator is not her only title. Since her retirement from teaching, counseling, and ministry, she has become a Maine Master Naturalist and a Registered Maine Sea Kayaking nearest drop-off location and hours of operation. The online look-up tool is searchable by city or ZIP code. Signs at each location will identify the drop-off.

Locally, Bethel Christian Church, 129 Lower Main Street, North Berwick, is accepting boxes on November 18, 4-6 p.m.; November 19-20, 1-3 p.m.; and November 21, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse, seeks to demonstrate

Guide. She describes these two achievements as “a lot of work,” but says she is most proud of becoming a Maine Guide more of anything else she has ever done.

Linda’s time at the Reserve is spent leading nature walks and giving sea kayaking tours. “I teach people how to be outside,” she says simply. During three-hour trail walks, she shares her knowledge of the natural world with school groups and adults, and teaches them about the Abenaki presence, both past and present.

Grenfell displays her whimsical side when asked about her preference for the chipmunk as the Reserve’s mascot. As a child, she fancied herself a chipmunk. The youngest of four, she always felt like the little kid looking for the grownups. “Chipmunks,” she says, “are small and quick, very love in a tangible way to children in need around the world. Together with local churches, they share in the Good News. Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has collected and delivered more than 198 million gift-filled shoeboxes to children in more than 170 countries and territories. This year, Operation Christmas Child will collect its 200 millionth shoebox. For more information, visit www.samaritanspurse.org. adept at surviving, like me.” She goes on in a playful tone, “My fantasy is to live like a chipmunk; in a burrow, sitting on a couch, reading silly novels and drinking tea.” She laughs, “That sounds like me in the winter.”

While she does not actually dwell in a burrow, Linda is happily settled with her husband in a Wells community of retired United Methodist clergy. Her five grown children are, she says, “off doing what adult children do; living full lives and raising wonderful kids.”

At the Reserve, surrounded by 2,250 acres of forest, marshland and beach, with seven hiking trails, Linda Grenfell is at home. “This job is perfect for me,” she says. “I belong here.” She adds with a smile, “I need to be planted.” Spoken like a true child of nature.