Myslavelake.com

Helping under-privileged, needy and sometimes destitute boys and girls around the world has become a passion for Marge Procyshyn. The Slave Lake women is the lead hand in this community’s Christmas Child project and she’s urging others to get involved by filling a simple shoebox. 

Operation Christmas child, a project of Samaritan ’s Purse, sees children, their friends and parents in countries such as Canada filling brightly-coloured boxes for youngsters who might not otherwise receive any presents. “It’s a heart -breaking reality,” says Franklin Graham, international president for Samaritan’s Purse. “Millions of boys and girls around the globe live in difficult circumstances and are in desperate need of hope.”

The shoe boxes might provide some reassurance. The boxes might contain pens, pencils, crayons, coloring books and writing pads. Or they might contain personal items such as a toothbrush, soap or a comb-a T-shirt or ballcap-or any combination of the above.

The empty shoe boxes are ready to be picked up at the local Re/Max office and the Library at Northern Lakes College and they also include a handy list of ideas for filling the boxes.

Prochyshyn hopes to forward the boxes to Calgary the week of November 24-29. Drop off is the same week and then they go to Calgary the next week. And while local companies, Landing Transport Ltd have been quick to step up to the plate in previous years to ensure the boxes arrive in Calgary at no cost, Prochyshyn says she is currently working with Slave Lake Air/Ground Ambulance to see if that’s an option this time around , as they did last year. 

“Shoeboxes from Slave Lake will go to Costa Rica, Argentina, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Uruguay” says Jaime Cisterna, regional manager for OCC in Alberta.