posted September 7, 2005
CLEVELAND, Tenn. (Sept. 7, 2005) – Although it is early September, a festive Christmas tree has gone up in the lobby of Life Care’s Operations Center, as the company kicks off its 2005 Operation Christmas Child drive.
The official start of the campaign is this Friday, Sept. 9, when Life Care hosts a luncheon for educators, pastors, business and civic leaders. It will be held at noon in Life Care’s Professional Development Center on the Corporate Plaza, 3570 Keith St.
Anyone is welcome to attend by making a reservation before 9 a.m. on Friday by calling Brynna Nunnery, Life Care’s corporate events coordinator, at 473-5536.
“The Christmas spirit is definitely in the air at our place,” said Beecher Hunter, executive vice president for corporate and community relations for Life Care. “We are eager to get started on the project that produces shoe boxes filled with gifts representing hope and love for disadvantaged children of the world who live in countries particularly struggling with war and poverty. It’s the season of the year that I look forward to, from the time the last shoe box is delivered to the beginning of the next collection.”
The featured speaker will be Robert Rogers from Liberty, Mo., who lost his wife and four children in a flash flood in Kansas. The school supplies purchased for his children ultimately were donated to Operation Christmas Child, and Mr. Rogers has become an ardent supporter of the program, Mr. Hunter said. Professionally, he is a worship leader, pianist and composer. He also established a non-profit charity dedicated to teaching others to live a life with no regrets.
“The people of Cleveland, Bradley County, Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia have shown their remarkable compassion for these kids, conveying the message that God loves them, and doing so through these shoe boxes, which are filled with toys, school supplies, personal hygiene items, hard candy and small items of clothing,” Mr. Hunter said.
Last year, for example, Life Care’s official Samaritan’s Purse collection center, the Campbell Center, 3001 Keith St., received 55,072 shoe boxes. Nationwide, in the 265 communities in 28 states where Life Care operates, 252,072 shoe boxes were collected.
“Those are amazing results, considering how our company-wide total has grown from 19,483 shoe boxes when Life Care first became a national sponsor in 1995,” Mr. Hunter said.
Operation Christmas Child is conducted by Samaritan’s Purse, a world relief organization based in Boone, N. C., headed by Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham.
“We are pleased to tell the public,” Mr. Hunter added, “that we will have a good supply of the pre-printed Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes on hand soon. We expect them within a few days, and they will be available to the public free on a first-come, first-served basis. We will announce their arrival.”
| Dining Out | Business | Movies | Focus | About Us |
| Church | Living Well | Memories | Outdoors | Real Estate | Student Scene | Travel |
