Shopping for school supplies is a ritual for many heading back to school. Amid shopping sprees, local kids and parents are looking beyond their own needs and considering the difference a pencil or pen would make in the lives of needy children overseas.
For many poverty-stricken children, often a lack of basic supplies is what stands between them and attending school. By maximizing back-to-school sales, area families are stocking up on school supplies for Operation Christmas Child (OCC), a massive year-round project in which volunteers pack shoeboxes with toys, school supplies, hygiene items and notes of encouragement for children in poverty across the globe.
"I love teaching my kids the value of a dollar well spent," OCC Central Missouri Area Coordinator Renee Munns said. "Especially when it is going to a great organization like OCC."
For more information, go to www.samaritanspurse.org/occ.