CBA has beefed up its partnership with Operation Christmas Child (OCC), a ministry service project run by Samaritan's Purse, to help more Christian retailers connect with their communities.

More than 650 Christian bookstores connected with chains and hundreds more independent retailers served as drop-off sites last year for Christmas-wrapped shoeboxes brought in by customers and churches in their local communities every November.

Filled with small Christmas gifts, including toys, school supplies and hygiene items, the shoeboxes are given to children around the world who are also presented the gospel. Last year, a total of 7.6 million shoeboxes were collected and distributed, according to Shannon Kozee, community relations manager for OCC.

Christian bookstores have been a part of the project since it was launched 16 years ago. CBA has provided OCC booth space at the association's annual International Christian Retail Show as a platform to encourage retailers to be involved, and the booksellers association decided to get involved on a larger scale this year.

"We were so pleased at the CBA convention (in Orlando, Fla.,) to speak to many stores who had never heard of Operation Christmas Child before, and to be able to encourage them to get involved," Kozee told Christian Retailing.

CBA President Bill Anderson said OCC's mission complements "both the stores' business and ministry goals."

"Through the (partnership) with OCC, we have made several resources more readily available, and stores can choose to participate as much or as little as they want," he told Christian Retailing. Resources include shelftalkers that the stores can download online and print.

Read more in the Sept. 22 issue of Christian Retailing.

• Prev
• Next