ESCANABA - Christmas may be the last thing on the minds of area residents, but this weekend the Upper Peninsula Operation Christmas Child (UPOCC) will host a Christmas in July event to raise money for its cause.
The Christian Music Event will be held in the Delta Plaza Mall Food Court today and Saturday. Performances will include groups Hearts on Fire, Silver Winds, Northern Lights, the Jeff Nelson Trio, String Challenged and Ken Osborne.
Operation Christmas Child is a world-wide charity organization, under the Samaritan's Purse International Relief unbrella, that collects shoe-sized boxes filled with various toys or necessities from donors. In the weeks before Christmas, these boxes are then shipped overseas and given to children who are less fortunate.
According to Rudy Lawrence, coordinator of UPOCC, the number of shoe boxes collected in the Upper Peninsula last year was up 28 percent, despite a struggling economy.
This weekend's event will serve as a reward for this exceptional show of generosity, as well as an opportunity for residents to become further acquainted with the charity.
"The goal, ultimately, is just to go through the process from start to finish in a demonstrative way - the start, collection and distribution," explained Lawrence. "A lot of folks don't quite understand where the boxes go, and the kind of process it is."
Between the performances, presentations and discussion about the mission of Operation Christmas Child will also be held.
These presentations will highlight the full life-cycle of the shoeboxes - from the donors to the hands of grateful children.
"These children are in areas of the world that are experiencing devastation due to hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, war and famine," said Lawrence. "We will show what can and can't go into the box. We are introducing this now so people have time to gradually collect items to put together a box."
"These items don't have to be expensive," he adds. "Almost anything you put in there will far surpass what these children have, because, most of the time, they have nothing."
Lawrence has been involved with the UPOCC for 12 years and notes that last year's showing of generosity was prevalent across the nation and world - a surprising fact, considering the economy.
"Last year, 8.2 million shoe-boxes were collected worldwide and 5.8 million of those were collected in U.S. alone," he said. "What is interesting about this is that 2.2 million of these shoe-boxes went into non-Christian areas. The boxes are distributed to missionaries that request them, the denomination does not matter."
Admission to the music event is free, but donations are always welcome, notes Lawrence.
"What we are striving for, the goal of Operation Christmas Child, is to let the people in these devastated areas know that there is a kind God and kind people that do take care of suffering people," explained Lawrence. "With the shoebox, you can feel part of a very big voluntary charity that doesn't cost you a lot of money - boxes average $12-20, or even less than that."
For more information on the mission of Operation Christmas Child or to get involved, visit the Web site at www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/index/.