The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

Students who recently participated in the Operation Christmas Child program are: (front row) Valerie Leblue, Mia Yellott and India Alexander; (back row) Josh Howard, Chad Hughes, Justin Meaux, Nathan Rose, Tyler Bevlaqua and Blake Dupre. Not pictured are sponsors: Sharon Monk, Ledena Howard and Steve Howard.

On Dec. 11, several 11th grade students from Community Christian School traveled to Dallas to volunteer their Friday evening at Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child's Processing Center. Each holiday season from Thanksgiving through the week before Christmas, the Operation Christmas Child ministry sets up temporary collection warehouses in several cities throughout the United States, including Dallas, to receive shoe boxes filled with gifts and toys which have been donated by local churches and individuals.

The CCS students inspected hundreds of toy-filled shoe boxes to prepare them for final shipping to churches and missionaries worldwide who will give the shoe boxes and Bibles to children to share the message of Jesus.

At the end of their volunteer shift, the CCS students were excited to learn that over 600,000 toy-filled shoe boxes had been processed at the Dallas facility alone since Thanksgiving.