EVANSTON — Evangeline Franzon from the Philippines was a recipient of an Operation Christmas Child shoebox filled with gifts when she was 13 years old. Franzon was born in Cebu, Philippines, where her family lived near a dump area. She had to skip school to babysit her younger siblings while her mother worked seven days a week to provide food for the family.

Franzon received the shoebox gift when there was only one left and it was offered to her. Its contents met many needs for her and her family, especially the toothbrush and toothpaste as they couldn’t afford those items. Franzon said she also remembers receiving coloring books and crayons.

Franzon is now a speaker for the organization, and her tour will include stops in Green River, Rock Springs, Bridger Valley and Evanston. She will be at Pete’s Coffee Shop on Main Street on Friday, May 10, at 2 p.m., following a stop at the Bridger Valley Baptist Church in Lyman at 10:30 a.m.

She will share her personal story and how much the shoebox gifts mean to the children in impoverished countries. Franzon will be accompanied by Alison Long, regional area coordinator for the project. The public is invited to attend the free event and refreshments will be provided.

Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan’s Purse International Disaster Relief organization; an evangelical Christian humanitarian aid organization that provides aid to people in physical need as a key part of its Christian missionary work. It was founded in 1970 by Bob Pierce who later died of leukemia in 1978. His protégé, Franklin Graham, son of the evangelist Billy Graham, then became the president and chairman of the board. Its headquarters are in Boone, North Carolina.

In 2023, 11.3 million shoeboxes were packed by people in 11 countries. Over the past 30 years, Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child has delivered more than 220 million shoebox gifts in 170 countries. There are 540,000 volunteers worldwide, (213,000 of those are in the U.S.) who collect gifts, pack, ship and distribute the shoeboxes.

Local resident Judy Jones first started the project in the Evanston area when she heard about it from a woman from Salt Lake City.

“I just started asking people to help and I got my pastor, Pete Bass, and the members of Cavalry Chapel involved and it has grown with volunteers and donations every year,” Jones said. “People love to help. The church orders the shoeboxes from Samaritan’s Purse. They come 50 to a carton for about $30; they are flat and we have to put them together. Until he passed away, Fritz Amsler used to put them together for us.”

Every year, residents in Evanston gather at Pete’s Coffee Shop to fill shoeboxes with donated gifts. Bass’ wife, Jill, said they have been participating in filling the shoeboxes for eight years. She said residents in the community watch for store sales and pick up items all year round and drop them off at the coffee shop.

“We get volunteers together the first few weeks in October to start filling the shoeboxes,” Jill Bass said. “We have to have them ready to ship by the second week in November. Filling the boxes is a lot of fun and involves the whole community.”

Bass said the shoeboxes look alike and come from Samaritan’s Purse though there are about three different sizes for different age groups. She said the contents range from school supplies, clothes, personal hygiene items like toothbrushes, and a “Wow” gift which could be a stuffed toy or a ball. They focus on children ages 2 years to 14 years and label the boxes for boys or girls.

The boxes are collected and sent to Inglewood, Colorado, where they are checked over and sent to churches in the different countries where they are distributed to the children. The shoeboxes from Evanston are destined for South America.

“We had one volunteer who used to make up little fishing kits in old pill bottles and another elderly woman who made pillowcases and little dresses,” Bass said. “These children are so appreciative. One little girl, I heard speak at one of the conferences, said her favorite item was a pencil sharpener.  Imagine being excited over a pencil sharpener.”

In 2023, the volunteers in Evanston filled 708 boxes and the volunteers in Bridger Valley under the leadership of Kevin and Gaye Kern filled 734 boxes. Bass said the Kerns and their volunteers have been filling shoeboxes for the project for 20-plus years. Bass said, volunteers throughout southwest Wyoming filled a total of 2,118 shoeboxes in 2023.

“Operation Christmas Child is a wonderful thing,” Jones said. “I am passionate about it; it is such a pleasure to do this for children. The Bible tells us we should take care of the children. These children in third world countries have nothing and are so grateful to even get a pencil sharpener or a toothbrush. I love doing this work.”