First Baptist Church of Fountain Hills has received an award from the International Christian Relief Organization Samaritan’s Purse.

In June, First Baptist Church of Fountain Hills was recognized for its service to children in need around the world. During its more than 12 years of participation, First Baptist has served as a relay center, drop-off site and has personally packed hundreds of shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.

Each year, the Samaritan’s Purse project delivers millions of gift-filled shoeboxes to children affected by war, disaster, disease, poverty and famine.

More than 90,000 churches and groups in the United States partner with Operation Christmas Child to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to millions of children in need. Nearly 5,000 of those churches serve as drop-off locations for the project. Through Operation Christmas Child, children, families and groups fill shoeboxes with fun toys, school supplies, and hygiene items, creating gifts that can make a life-changing difference in the hearts of children around the world.

First Baptist Church, along with several other local churches, are looking forward to collecting shoeboxes again this year during the project’s National Collection Week, Nov. 12-19. For more information on how to participate in Operation Christmas Child, visit samaritanspurse.org/occ.

Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief and evangelism organization headed by Franklin Graham. The mission of Operation Christmas Child is to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to children in need around the world and, together with the local church worldwide, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has collected and delivered more than 157 million gift-filled shoeboxes to children in more than 160 countries and territories. For many of these children, the gift-filled shoebox is the first gift they have ever received.