Juneau Empire Story Archive

... for helping Operation Christmas Child

Thank you letter

The Operation Christmas Child Volunteer Committee wants to say thank you to the people of Juneau, Ketchikan, Wrangell, Haines, Sitka and Gustavus who took part this year. More than 2,150 shoe boxes filled with love and surprises are on their way to the Russian Far East. Southeast Alaska has shared the joy of Christmas with children who are our neighbors across the Bering Sea and the North Pacific Ocean.

Here are the businesses who made the rest of this project possible: Lynden Transport, donated shipping for all the boxes from here to Soldotna; Alaska Marine Lines, donated shipping from the communities around southeast to get their boxes to Juneau; McDonald's, donated hundreds of Happy Meal toys to help fill the shoe boxes; Thunder Mountain Soccer Camp, donated new soccer balls and T-shirts; and Hudson's Shoes, Payless Shoes, Footlocker and Fred Meyer, donated empty shoe boxes.

Hearthside Books, The Udder Culture, Northern Echoes Bible Shoppe and Susan's Hallmark provided a place where people could pick up pamphlets. Many Juneau churches took part in displaying posters and handing out pamphlets for the project.

Special thanks to Juneau's media, who helped us spread the word about Operation Christmas Child this year. A special thanks also to Chris Burns, who not only had us on Capitol Chat, but put together a link on the KINY Website for Operation Christmas Child. Shelly Kincaid of KTKU, Susan Fitzgerald of KTOO, Jeff Brown from KTOO's "We Like Kids," and Charlie Ellis from KATH, who made a videotape of the Capitol Chat show, all helped us spread the word. The Juneau Empire ran a story at the beginning of the event which was also helpful.

Chapel by the Lake donated space and volunteers for the collection center. They had a dedicated team to pack the shoe boxes into containers and organize them for shipping.

Thanks to all of you who will bring the spirit of Christmas alive to more than 2,150 children in the Russian Far East. May your own holidays be filled with peace and joy.

Operation Christmas Child Volunteer Committee

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