Staff Report
John and Kathleen Fosmire will again offer their John Patrick Hair Design salon in Santa Ynez as a drop-off point for contributions to Operation Christmas Child.
“This is our fifth year and many generous Santa Ynez individuals, organizations, businesses and churches are involved. It has been a great success, and we hope to do the same this season,” they said in a written statement.
Operation Christmas Child was started in 1990 by Dave and Jill Cooke of Wrexham, Wales, while they were watching a broadcast on Romania, which had recently been devastated by war. They ended up filling nine trucks with medical supplies, food, clothing and Christmas gifts.
This was the beginning of the world’s largest Christmas gift program. In 1993, Operation Christmas Child was adopted by Franklin Graham of Samaritan’s Purse.
Samaritan’s Purse serves people in need, both domestically and internationally, after floods, wildfires, other disasters, heart surgeries, famine or in war zones.
The boxes filled by donors for Operation Christmas Child are distributed all over the world. To date, more than 124 million boxes have been delivered.
Empty boxes can be picked up at the salon, and filled boxes must be returned there by Friday, Nov. 16.
Packing guidelines, touching stories and other information can be seen at samaritanspurse.org.
For more information, go to the salon at 3669 Sagunto St., No. 104, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday or call 805-688-9889.
