Students prepare gifts for worldwide giving

Students at Pope John XXIII Central Catholic Junior/Senior High School in Elgin got an early start on Christmas giving with their seventh annual Operation Christmas Child project.

They gathered gift donations from their own families and community, members of a Bible study group and religious education students at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Neligh, and members of Park Center Church near Elgin.

On Nov. 17, students held a party to pack and wrap the nearly 100 shoeboxes full of gifts, which were taken to a drop-off point for shipping at Calvary Bible Church in Neligh.

The Bargain Box thrift store in Elgin and members of St. Francis Parish helped with the cost of shipping the packages to Samaritan’s Purse, a nondenominational Christian organization of the Billy Graham Evangelical Association, which distributes the gifts to children around the world.