NILES Christmas program seeks donations for kids

Boxes will be distributed beginning Saturday at the mall, and collected through November in Champion.
NILES -- Operation Christmas Child will be giving away empty shoe boxes the next two weekends at Eastwood Mall.
It's the start of Christmas for a needy child somewhere in the world.
OCC annually collects shoe boxes filled with Christmas toys, school supplies, hygiene items and hard candy. The ministry is a division of Samaritan's Purse, headed by the Rev. Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham.
Last year, 25,000 shoe boxes were collected in northeastern Ohio, according to Laura York, a spokeswoman for the Mahoning and Trumbull county effort. The goal this year is 32,000 shoe boxes.
Details
The shoe box distributions are just part of the effort to increase the local collection. The new efforts are:
UDistribution of empty boxes from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at the community booth at the mall. The other distributions will be from 2 to 8 p.m. Nov. 1 and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 3.
ULabels will be available for those who get empty boxes at the mall and those who have boxes. The labels can be taped to the box to show if the gifts are for a boy or girl aged 2 to 4, 5 to 9, or 10 to 14. Labels are also available at www.samaritanspurse.org.
UThere will also be a local collection site where people or churches can leave their shoe boxes for shipping. York said that in the past, collection sites were out of the area, which may have hurt efforts.
The new collection site is at Neff's Landing, 5500 Oak Hill Road, Champion. Items can be dropped at the center at 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday and Oct. 31; 10 a.m. to noon Nov. 2, 9 and 16; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 to 8 p.m. Nov. 18, 19, 21, and 22; and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 20. The final collection will be from 10 a.m. to noon Nov. 23.
For more information, call (330) 847-9329 or (330) 847-5156.