LISBON FALLS — With holiday supplies already covering the store shelves, Lisbon Falls individuals, families, churches and groups are working to make Christmas a reality for needy kids around the world by filling shoeboxes with toys, school supplies, hygiene items and notes of encouragement.

Operation Christmas Child is ramping up as residents prepare to collect 3,200 gift-filled shoeboxes during National Collection Week, Nov. 18–25.

At local collection sites, anyone can drop off a gift-filled shoebox to send to a child overseas. Then using whatever means necessary — trucks, trains, boats, bikes and even elephants — the shoebox gifts will be delivered to children worldwide. For many children, the shoebox gift will be the first gift they have ever received.

Collections are being accepted at Lisbon Falls Church of Nazarene, 184 Main St. Hours are Monday, Nov. 18, 5-8 p.m.; Tuesday, Nov. 19, 4-7 p.m.; Wednesday, Nov. 20, 4:30-7:30 p.m.; Thursday, Nov. 21, 6-9 p.m.; Friday, Nov. 22, 5-8 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 23, 9 a.m. to noon; Sunday, Nov. 24, 1-3 p.m.; and Monday, Nov. 25, 9 a.m. to noon.

Additional locations can be found at www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/drop-off-locations. Nearby sites listed include Cornerstone Gospel Church, 25 Sebago Road, Naples, and West Paris Baptist Church, 15 Church St., West Paris.

Though the shoebox gifts will often travel thousands of miles, Operation Christmas Child offers a way for participants to follow their box by using the donation form found at samaritanspurse.org. Donors will receive an email telling the country where their shoeboxes are delivered.

Operation Christmas Child has collected and delivered more than 100 million shoebox gifts to suffering children in more than 100 countries since 1993. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Operation Christmas Child hopes to collect another 9.8 million gift-filled shoeboxes in 2013.

For more information, call 518-437-0690 or visit samaritanspurse.org. National Collection Week is Nov. 18-25; however, shoebox gifts are collected all year at the Samaritan’s Purse headquarters in Boone, N.C. Participants can also build a box through an online tool offering a personalized and convenient way to send a gift to a child in one of the hardest-to-reach countries.