TWO hundred shoeboxes in colourful wrapping from the Holsworthy area have been sent off on the first stage of their journey to children in various parts of the world as part of Operation Christmas Child.

Each year, at this time, churches, schools and individuals in the Holsworthy area support Operation Christmas Child, run by Samaritan’s Purse International Relief, which since 1993 has sent gifts packed in shoeboxes to more than 100 million children in more than 130 countries.

Bodmin St Methodist Church is the local collecting point. Before being sent, the 200 shoeboxes were blessed by the preacher, Christine Forster, at a Sunday service on November 15.