CHILDREN at a Felixstowe school are reaching out with hearts of love to send a Christmas gift to youngsters who would not otherwise receive a present this festive season.

By Richard Cornwell

CHILDREN at a Felixstowe school are reaching out with hearts of love to send a Christmas gift to youngsters who would not otherwise receive a present this festive season.

The youngsters at Fairfield Infants have filled more than 100 shoeboxes which are to be sent to children in eastern Europe who have suffered through war, poverty, illness, neglect, and natural disaster.

The mountain of colourfully-wrapped shoeboxes is being collected this week by the Christian charity Samaritan's Purse as part of its Operation Christmas Child mission.

They will be transported over the next few weeks with millions of others from across the world to countries such as Poland, Macedonia, Albania, Slovenia, Latvia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania.

Head teacher Doreen Bartlett said there had been a marvellous response from the children at the school and their families to the appeal for gift-filled shoeboxes.

"The response has been phenomenal and I am very proud of the children and the way they have responded," she said.

"These gifts will mean so much to the children who receive them this Christmas, children who might not otherwise receive a present.

"One of the nice things about the project is the number of parents who have said how much they enjoyed doing the boxes with their children and talking to them about it, and why they were doing it and sharing their presents with these children from these countries."

The project was organised at the school by deputy head Jan Wogan and children filled a box for either a boy or a girl, aged two to four, five to nine or ten to 14.

Inside they placed sweets, small toys and games, such as model cars, puzzles, balls, cuddly toys, dolls and skipping ropes, school supplies such as crayons and pencils, paper and colouring books, and toiletries, small items of clothing, and a note or a card.

Samaritan's Purse, a nondenominational evangelical Christian organisation, also adds in to the finished boxes some Christian literature to promote the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Last year, the organisation collected more than 4.1 million shoeboxes worldwide and distributed them to children in more than 75 countries.

WEBLINK: www.samaritanspurse.org