December 22, 1999
Texans box up 75,000 gifts of love
___By George Henson
___Staff Writer
___Christians across Texas boxed up and shipped almost 75,000 smiles this year as their contribution to Operation Christmas Child.
___Texans packed 74,386 shoeboxes with small toys and other items to send tounderprivileged children around the world as Christmas presents. Operation Christmas Child is a ministry of Samaritan's Purse, the international Christian relief and evangelism organization.
CHRISTIANS across Texas boxed up and shipped almost 75,000 smiles this year as their contribution to Operation Christmas Child.
___Worldwide, the final tally is expected to be more than 3.2 million shoeboxes donated by six participating nations, surpassing the goal of 3 million.
___The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex led the state in giving, with 38,908 shoeboxes brought to Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano and First United Methodist Church in Bedford.
___Dallas Baptist University, one of the relay centers for Prestonwood, collected more than 1,100 shoeboxes. More than 800 of those boxes came from the university's faculty, staff and students.
___One of those DBU students, Ermon Dautaj of Albania, knew first-hand how important the project was.
___"I know something small like that may be insignificant to most Americans, but it would really bring a smile to a child in my country," Dautaj said. "When I was a kid, I didn't receive many gifts, so I know how much something like this can mean.
___"There are kids out there who can really use a reason to smile, because they don't have it as good as people in the United States," he said.
___The Houston metropolitan area contributed 15,500 boxes to the effort, with First Baptist Church in Houston serving as the drop center.
___"This year was a little different, because we had more volunteers to help us," said coordinator Christi Schreckengost. Help came from a multitude of people within the congregation and beyond and included all ages, she said.
___The size of the job made plenty of work for the volunteers to do, she said. "We had to receive the shoeboxes, count the shoeboxes, have someone sign a receipt for the boxes and then pack all those shoe boxes into shipping crates. The shoeboxes brought here filled two 18-wheelers, so that's a lot of shoeboxes."
___Marion Greer said she enjoyed being one of the Houston-area volunteers.
___"I have been retired for 20 years, and I figure if I'm healthy, I should help," she said. "I was glad to do what I could to get those packages to needy children so they could have a Christmas present and also an opportunity to learn about Christ. I guess I was just trying to serve my Lord."
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