Back-to-school shoppers help children

NEWTON — As children prepare to return to the classroom, some Northwestern N.J. families are shifting their focus from their own back-to-school checklists to helping children around the world who have limited access to basic supplies necessary to attend school.
This month, Wantage volunteer Nan Greenfield is busy filling her shopping cart with notebooks, pencils and other school items to pack in shoeboxes alongside toys and hygiene items. Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse, will deliver these gift-filled shoeboxes to children suffering from poverty, natural disaster, war, disease and famine.
“At the end of summer, we often forget how fortunate we are to be able to attend school and have the supplies we need,” said Greenfield. “The pens and paper we put in shoeboxes are more than just gifts for the children receiving them—they are tangible reminders that God has not forgotten them and that He cares about the details of their lives. Helping children in need makes back-to-school shopping very rewarding.”