Local volunteers are packing shoe boxes with gifts to send to children around the world for Operation Christmas Child.
All this week, volunteers at Calvary Chapel of Fresno are hard at work, sorting, organizing and packing shoe boxes with items like toys, school supplies and hygiene products to send to less fortunate children in other countries.
Local churches, schools and civic groups are taking part in the effort.
Organizer Jerry Cooksey with Operation Christmas Child said, "It's all done strictly volunteer. I sometimes have 35 people helping out in a day. And we have collected as many as 12,000 shoe boxes in one day."
Last year, over 20,000 shoe boxes were filled locally, to send to children in places like Sudan, Thailand, and Cambodia.
The effort is part of a worldwide program organized by Samaritan's Purse International Relief.
Click the related link to learn more about Operation Christmas Child.
