Samaritan's Purse reaching out for Haiti with gift-filled shoeboxes

Aid agency seeks Canadians' help to pack 50,000 shoeboxes for children with "Hope 4 Haiti" initiative

CALGARY, Dec. 18, 2013 /CNW/ - Samaritan's Purse is reaching out to Canadians for a final push of Operation Christmas Child online shoebox donations for the thousands of children hurt by the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Despite ongoing relief efforts, many children still suffer from the great loss four years ago. The Christian organization hopes Canadians will demonstrate the hope and joy of Christ by packing a shoebox online with the message "Hope 4 Haiti" for a child affected by the earthquake.

"Over the past four years, Samaritan's Purse has helped with spreading God's love through a wide variety of relief efforts in Haiti," said Fred Weiss, Executive Director of Samaritan's Purse Canada. "We are asking Canadians to join us this Christmas in sending gift-filled shoeboxes to hurting children in Haiti. Although we have received just as many shoeboxes from Canadians this year as we did in 2012, there are still tens of thousands of children waiting to receive a shoebox, and we are requesting the help of everyone in our nation."

At present, there are still 50,000 children in Haiti to whom the organization and its local partners would like to give shoeboxes this year. Canadians are asked to help by packing gift-filled shoeboxes online at Hope-4-Haiti.com. Each tax-deductible shoebox costs $37 including shipping, with many options for personalization. This simple gesture has the ability to put a smile on a hurting child's face.

"Worldplay is honored to partner with Samaritan's Purse for Operation Christmas Child's 'Hope 4 Haiti' initiative," said Terry Mochar, President of Worldplay (Canada) Inc. "Samaritan's Purse has been meeting critical needs in Haiti since 2010 and we are privileged to use our Hope-4-Haiti.com platform to help them invest in a generation of young people."

About Samaritan's Purse Canada
Samaritan's Purse is an international Christian relief and development organization helping victims of war, natural disaster, poverty, and persecution in more than 100 countries. Since 1993, the organization's Operation Christmas Child program has delivered over 100 million shoebox gifts to hurting children worldwide.
Samaritan's Purse Canada | 1.800.663.6500 | Calgary, AB | SamaritansPurse.ca

About Worldplay (Canada) Inc.
Worldplay powers captivating online video experiences to reach and engage audiences anywhere, any time. As a Content-as-a-Service (CaaS) provider, Worldplay helps the world's leading organizations in education, media and enterprise drive value through connecting customers with powerful and engaging online video content while reducing technical complexity, cost and bureaucracy.

Worldplay (Canada) Inc. | 1.403.297.1055 | Calgary, AB | Worldplaynetworks.com

SOURCE: Samaritan's Purse Canada

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Tara Molina | New Wave Media | 403.457.0919 | Calgary, AB | New-wavemedia.com