2,958 shoeboxes full of items such as school supplies, hygiene products, candy and toys were collected from North Bay and the surrounding communities. Laurentian Wesleyan Church located in North Bay is the Regional Collection Centre for the area and has been promoting this program in our area.

Pastor Chris Lang of Laurentian Wesleyan Church said, “It was truly amazing to see all the shoeboxes that had come in from all the different churches, schools, organizations and individuals stacked up all around our church’s sanctuary.”

Operation Christmas Child is successful because of the hard work and participation of so many people and could not have been done without the help of everyone who participated. Since early October shoeboxes had been distributed from Laurentian Wesleyan Church in North Bay into an area bounded by Burk’s Falls to the south, Sturgeon Falls to the West, Mattawa to the east and Temagami and Ville-Marie to the north. Boxes had been slowly trickling back into the church until the National Collection Week which happened starting on November 16^th and ended November 21^st when hundreds of boxes were received at the church on a daily basis.

The shoeboxes collection in our community and in the rest of Canada for 2009 will be distributed in many different countries in Latin America and in Africa . Countries such as: Argentina, Bolivia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Guinea, Senegal and Sierra Leone are just to name a few.

For more information about Operation Christmas Child, pictures taken during the Collection Week and how you can help please check Laurentian Wesleyan Church’s website at: www.laurentianchurch.com.