After buying new shoes, many people just throw away the box. But for participants in Operation Christmas Child, empty shoe boxes represent opportunities to brighten a child's life somewhere around the world.

Operation Christmas Child is a program run by Samaritan's Purse, an international relief organization based in Boone, North Carolina. Franklin Graham, son of the late evangelist Billy Graham, serves as president and chairman of the board.

For more than 30 years, families, churches and volunteers have been filling shoe boxes with gifts to send to children throughout the world. Since 1993, more than 232 million children have received a shoe box gift in more than 170 countries and territories.

The boxes often contain stuffed animals, dolls, toy cars, soccer balls, school supplies and h

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