WESTLOCK — For a fifth-straight year, Westlock-area resident Sharon Letts travelled to Calgary to make a difference for children in need around the world.
For two of those five years Letts has been joined by her mother, Shirley Taylor, also from Westlock and this year they once again volunteered their time to inspect and package shoeboxes Dec. 7-8 at the Operation Christmas Child processing centre in Calgary. The 2022 campaign collected filled shoeboxes during National Collection Week, Nov. 14-20 which were later delivered to the Calgary centre.
Operation Christmas Child is an annual initiative of Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief organization that works in more than 100 countries. This year, Canada will send filled shoes boxes to children in need in Central and South America, the Philippines and war-torn Ukraine.
It is a cause that is near and dear to Lett’s heart, as she and her mother joined hundreds of other volunteers to prepare the shoeboxes for shipment.
“I have a passion for Operation Christmas Child,” said Letts, noting her long-time participation in the program. “I love packing boxes for children who aren’t as blessed as we are.”
Letts and Taylor spent several hours each day inspecting and re-packing the boxes before they were sealed in cartons and transported to Central America, west Africa, the Philippines, and Ukraine, where they will be given to children who, in many cases, have never received a gift in their lives.
As a dedicated volunteer with the campaign for several years, Letts was going to expand her contribution a couple of years ago, when just prior to the pandemic, she was scheduled to fly to another country to help distribute shoeboxes.
“I was actually supposed to leave in April 2020 and go to Costa Rica and deliver them. I unfortunately didn’t get to go because of the (pandemic) shutdown,” explained Letts, noting it would have been her first time delivering them in person. While she has not had a chance to reschedule the trip, it is an experience that she is still wanting to pursue.
“I just think it would be so amazing to see (the smile on children’s faces),” she said.
In Calgary this year, Letts packed more than 60 shoeboxes full of toys, hygiene items and school supplies for Operation Christmas Child, a campaign that began in 1993 in Canada.
“I love kids, shopping, and helping and gifting others,” said Letts. “Filling shoeboxes and being able to come to Calgary to process more, is fun and so rewarding for me.”
