Samaritan's Purse Fundraiser Hosted By Moving Ahead Communications Fills Gaps for Children's Charity

The holiday season is fast approaching. This means, chief among other things, fundraising time for the Samaritan's Purse International annual Operation Christmas Child. And teaming up with a fundraiser for them is Moving Ahead Communications (MAC), an Ohio-based business support services company.

"Samaritan's Purse operates wonderful emergency relief, community development, vocational programs worldwide for people of all ages," said Diana Barnum, freelance writer and president of MAC. "And being a mom and teacher, I particularly like how they impact the lives of vulnerable children through their clothing, educational, feeding and shelter programs, letting them know they are not forgotten."

Although MAC began 1984, with the design of greeting cards in Spanish, Arabic and Chinese, initial work began several years earlier, in 1979. During that year, the company's founder, Diana Barnum, was awarded a Teaching Associate position at The Ohio State University, Department of Spanish, where many of the original concepts and materials for Moving Ahead were started. Over the years, the company has grown to help companies worldwide with a variety of business support services.

To help raise funds and support Samaritan's Purse/Operation Christmas Child, MAC will donate ten percent of all purchases made through their Gift-Gallery division online at: to Operation Christmas Child.

"Filling a shoebox is a fun activity for families, church groups and other companies and organizations to do together," said Barnum. "You can set up mini-assembly lines in your homes and have Operation Shoebox parties, filling up boxes with donations contributed by everyone while enjoying snacks and fellowship. Kids also like to join in and often fill up shoeboxes on their own with their allowance and other Christmas funds they've saved. An area lacking, though, is money for shipping a lot of these boxes overseas. And that's where we want to help – plus fill gaps with more shoebox gifts and shoeboxes (we like to donate plastic shoe-sized boxes over traditional cardboard ones so that children and their families can use them year-round for storage)."

Samaritan's Purse

Samaritan's Purse International was created based on the biblical mandate found in Luke 10:30-37, describing how the Samaritan rescued a hurting man whom others had passed by, Jesus told His hearers, "Go and do likewise." The world-renowned group Samaritan's Purse aids the world's poor, sick and suffering, offering food, medicine and assistance through emergency relief programs, among them its holiday flagship program, Operation Christmas Child.

Operation Christmas Child

Operation Christmas Child provides gift-filled shoe boxes for children around the world. Its overriding purpose is to help people of all ages be involved in providing toys and sharing God's love to children around the globe. Operation Christmas Child purchases and accepts donations, toys and other presents that are placed into shoeboxes and then shipped around the world.

In 2005, nearly 7.6 million gift-filled shoeboxes were created and shipped to children in over 90 countries. Recommended gift ideas included small toys,
school supplies, hygiene items (toothbrush, toothpaste, mild bar soap, comb, washcloth), hard candy, gum, T-shirts, socks, ball caps; sunglasses, hair clips, toy jewelry, watches, flashlights (with extra batteries). A note to the child (addressed for a possible reply from the recipient) and photo were in some.

Items not allowed in the shoeboxes included: used or damaged items; war-related items such as toy guns, knives or military figures; chocolate or food; liquids or lotions; medications or vitamins; breakable items such as snow-globes or glass containers; aerosol cans.

How to Participate / Deadline

To participate in the fundraiser:

-Visit: and place gift orders: fresh flowers, gourmet goodies, gift baskets, corporate gifts and more for all occasions.
-Bookmark the link, saving it in your Favorites (or other) folder
-Share the site link with friends, families, co-workers and others
-Place gift orders early, by November 12, 2006, to meet the National Collection week deadline on this end which is November 13-20, so that children get their packages in time for Christmas.
-Return to the site for all gift-giving occasions year-round (it's a fundraiser site 24/7), updated regularly with online specials

For more information on Moving Ahead Communications and their fundraising opportunities, contact them at 3288 Darby Glen Blvd, Hilliard, Ohio 43026; call: (614) 529-9459. Visit them online at:

Free Fun Stuff!

Internet visitors can head to the Samaritan's Purse website and download lots of fun stuff. There are coloring pages for children, an assortment of clip art and more.

For more information and to download items, contact Samaritan's Purse/Operation Christmas Child, 801 Bamboo Road, Boone, NC 28607; call (800)353-5949 and visit them online at:

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