Lois Zipperer adds items to a box held by Alana Weatherford, 3, as volunteers form an assembly line to put together 2,230 gift boxes - filled with toys, school supplies and personal items - destined for needy children overseas as part of Operation Christmas Child. The packing party was held on Saturday at the Lemon Island home of Judy Malphrus. Operation Christmas Child, is a project of international Christian relief and evangelism organization Samaritan's Purse. Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has collected 94 million shoe box-sized gifts and hand-delivered them to needy children in more than 130 countries. This year, Operation Christmas Child plans to collect another 9.1 million gift-filled shoe boxes, with 15,000 coming from the Low Country. For more information on how to participate in Operation Christmas Child, call (704) 583-1463 or visit www.samaritanspurse.org/occ. National Collection Week for gift-filled shoe boxes is Nov. 12-19; however, shoe box gifts are collected all year at the Samaritan's Purse headquarters in Boone, N.C.

JAY KARR, STAFF PHOTO