Now is the time for OCC supplies

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By Wayne Allen

[email protected]

Local officials with Operation Christmas Child (OCC) are reminding people that back to school time could also be a good time to stock up on supplies for OCC Boxes.

“Portsmouth-area students may be preparing to head back to school, but millions of children around the world do not have the same opportunity, simply because they lack the right materials—like pencils and paper,” said Gaylene St. Leger Cox, OCC Volunteer.

St. Leger Cox spoke of Luis Gonzalez of Panama City, Panama. She said Luis was raised by a single mother, as they lived in a small house with dirt floors. St. Leger Cox said Gonzalez was preparing to enter the school year with no school supplies. She said Gonzalez was invited to an event in Panama where OCC boxes were being distributed.

“As luck would have it, Gonzalez’s box was filled with school supplies and a number of other items,” she said.

St. Leger Cox said now would be the time to take advantage of back-to-school sales to stock up on school supplies for Operation Christmas Child shoe box gifts.

In addition to sales, Ohio will be having a Sales Tax Holiday starting Friday, Aug. 7 and continuing through Sunday, Aug. 9. During this event, school supplies priced at $20 per item or less, clothing priced at $75 per items or less and school instructional material priced at $20 per item or less are considered sales tax free when purchased.

According to St. Leger Cox, since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has delivered gift-filled shoeboxes to more than 124 million children in more than 150 countries and territories. In 2015, Operation Christmas Child hopes to collect enough shoebox gifts to reach another 11 million children.

St. Leger Cox said a goal of collecting 48,095 shoe boxes has been set for a ten county region in Ohio.

For more information about Operation Christmas Child visit, www.samaritanspurse.org or call St. Leger Cox at 330-904-5873.

Wayne Allen can be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 1933 or on Twitter @WayneallenPDT

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