Operation Christmas Child 2026 Aims for 12.8 Million

Operation Christmas Child will collect shoebox gifts across the United States during National Collection Week, November 16-23, 2026, with a goal of reaching 12.8 million children this year. Since 1993, the Samaritan's Purse ministry has delivered more than 244 million gift-filled shoeboxes to children in over 175 countries and territories.

Twelve point eight million. That is the number of children Samaritan's Purse hopes to reach this Christmas with a shoebox packed by a stranger. Last year, 12.2 million boxes were collected worldwide, and 10.9 million of them came from the United States. This year, the goal climbs again, and nearly 5,000 drop-off locations in all 50 states and Puerto Rico are getting ready.

National Collection Week is the moment the whole project comes together. All year, churches, families, Sunday school classes, and civic groups pack shoeboxes with toys, school supplies, and personal care items. Then, for one week in mid-November, the boxes pour into drop-off points, get inspected at eight processing centers, and begin their journey overseas.

Operation Christmas Child National Collection Week 2026

The dates are fixed: Monday, November 16 through Monday, November 23, 2026. In Somerset County, Pennsylvania, five drop-off locations will take boxes all week, including St Paul's Presbyterian Church in Somerset, and the county's goal this year is 8,401 boxes. In Abilene, Texas, three churches are serving as collection points, and the area goal is 7,300 boxes, a 5 percent increase over last year's 6,932.

In Union County, Tennessee, Milan Baptist Church in Maynardville will serve as the local drop-off, open every evening from 5 to 7 p.m. during the week, with weekend hours on Saturday and Sunday. The pattern repeats in thousands of towns: one church, one week, one table full of boxes.

Each box follows the same simple formula. Pick a boy or girl and an age group: 2 to 4, 5 to 9, or 10 to 14. Fill the box with new toys, school supplies, and approved personal care items. Add a personal note or a photo if you like. A suggested donation of $10 per box helps cover proccessing, shipping, and the evangelism materials that travel with every gift.

One rule changed this year that packers need to know: soap is no longer allowed. Samaritan's Purse says it causes customs complications in some countries. Toothbrushes, combs, washcloths, pencils, crayons, notebooks, small toys, and clothing are all still welcome.

What is in an Operation Christmas Child shoebox?

Every box carries more than gifts. Samaritan's Purse includes "The Greatest Gift," a gospel booklet written in the language of each child who receives it, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. That is the point of the project, and the organization is open about it: the box is the doorway, and the message inside is the destination.

For families who cannot pack a physical box, there is Build a Shoebox Online. Visitors to the Samaritan's Purse website choose gifts for a child's age and gender, add a photo and a message of encouragement, and complete the box virtually. Boxes built online after December 31 will not count in the current year's total, so the online option follows the same seasonal rhythm as the physical one.

The $10 donation does more than pay for shipping. Through the "Follow Your Box" program, donors who give online receive a tracking label that lets them discover where their gift goes. A box packed in Pennsylvania or Texas can end up in the hands of a child the packer will never meet, in a country the packer may never visit, and the label closes that distance just enough to make it real.

Samaritan's Purse Christmas shoebox history

Operation Christmas Child began in 1993, and it has grown into the largest Christmas project of its kind in the world. Samaritan's Purse, the international Christian relief and evangelism organization led by Franklin Graham, works in more than 100 countries helping people affected by war, disease, disaster, poverty, and famine. The shoebox project is its most personal expression of that work.

The scale is hard to grasp until you stand in a processing center. Millions of boxes arrive in November and December, and volunteers inspect each one before it ships. The Southwest Ministry Center in Coppell, Texas, just minutes from Grapevine, the Christmas capital of Texas, is one of eight processing centers where boxes are carefully checked and prepared for international shipment. The same spirit of hands-on service drives the mass baptisms and revivals sweeping American churches, like the thousands baptized at Oceanside Beach in the Movement San Diego revival.

Franklin Graham's name is closely tied to the project, and his public voice has been prominent in Christian news this year, including his warning after the 2026 midterm elections that America is inching toward socialism, as covered in Christian Leaders React to Midterm 'Catastrophe'. But the shoebox project itself is quieter work, done by volunteers in church basements and school gyms, one box at a time.

That quiet work is also why the project endures. There is no spectacle to it, no viral moment, just a box, a child, and a week in November when thousands of churches open their doors to receive both. The 244 million boxes delivered since 1993 were not packed by celebrities or campaigns. They were packed by ordinary people who decided that a stranger's child, somewhere far away, deserved a Christmas gift.

National Collection Week begins on Monday, November 16. The drop-off locator at the Samaritan's Purse website lists the nearest location by city or ZIP code, and boxes can be dropped off beyond the collection week at some warehouse locations. The goal is 12.8 million children, and every box counts toward it. As churches prepare their own Christmas music for the season, including Chris Tomlin's Good News of Great Joy Christmas album, the shoebox table in the foyer is where the season turns into action.

But the most surprising part of this story is yet to come — keep reading.