By BRIDGET COOK
WHILE the festive season is still months away, a Cranbourne church has already started its project to bring joy to disadvantaged children on Christmas Day.
TurningPoint Church is again taking part in Operation Christmas Child which is run by the Samaritan’s Purse International Relief Organisation.
The operation aims to provide disadvantaged children from all over the world with a shoe box full of usable gifts for Christmas.
Donors are asked to fill their shoebox with six simple things – something to love, something for school, something to wear, something to play with, something for personal hygiene and something special.
Denyse Parker from TurningPoint Church said organisers were collecting boxes for the operation and hoped to get 1000 from the Casey community in the lead up to Christmas.
“Many of the children receiving these boxes have never received a Christmas gift and their joy is so incredibly and overwhelmingly apparent,” she said.
“Our local pastor, Norma Cayzer, was fortunate enough to travel to Papua New Guinea last year where she was able to witness firsthand the amazing impact these gifts had, not only on the children, but on their families and, in turn, the local communities.
“Here at TurningPoint Church, we have embraced this charity and this year we celebrate our 11th year of supporting the Samaritan’s Purse.”
Boxes can be collected from TurningPoint office at 1785 South Gippsland Highway, Cranbourne, for a fee of 50 cents.
The boxes must be returned to the church by 28 September.
They are then forwarded on for distribution to children around the world.
For more information, call the church on 5996 3048.
