UNCP Basketball To Host Operation Christmas Child Drop Off On Saturday

PEMBROKE - The UNCP athletic department, in association with LSOP and SAAC, will host a handful of events to help benefit Operation Christmas Child prior to and during Saturday’s men’s basketball season opener against visiting St. Andrew’s at 4 p.m. in the English E. Jones Center.

Members from the LSOP will be on hand at tables to collect completed OCC shoeboxes to be sent on Sunday to the area drop-off spot at First Baptist Church in Laurinburg. They will also be selling both raffle tickets and UNCP Operation Christmas Child t-shirts. All of the proceeds will go to assist with Operation Christmas Child. Raffle tickets will also be available for sale before Saturday by seeing a LSOP member.

Raffle tickets are $1 – one ticket, $3 – five tickets, $5 – seven tickets, and $10 – 16 tickets. T-shirts are $8 for adults and $6 for youth. An adult t-shirt and four raffle tickets would be just $10. Raffle winners will be entertained with dinner certificates from Outback Steakhouse, Sheff’s, Subway, Golden Corral and Pizza Hut.

Two gift packs, which include t-shirts and four tickets to a Fayetteville FireAntz hockey game, as well as a dinner/two tickets package to any GPAC performance will also be available. Winners can also take from prizes from Bob’s Jewel Shop, Hallmark, the UNCP Bookstore and BELK.

Bert’s will sponsor a half court shot contest at halftime of the game, with the UNCP men’s basketball t-shirts set to be given to the winners of a knockout contest from the free-throw line.

Organizations that come to the game and sign in can earn 50 total Chancellor Cup points and earn 100 additional points if 10 or more members are present. Groups also can earn 50 points for participation in Operation Christmas Child, plus 25 points for every box up to five; 50 points for every box up to 10; 75 points for every box up to 15 and 100 points for every box turned in over 16.

Shoeboxes at UNCP are still available in the LSOP and Student Life office in the University Center. There are also bags available in the student life office that have been filled with toothbrushes, toothpaste, pens, soap and more that can help start a box.

The Operation Christmas Child project is in its 13th year of existence and the second year that UNCP has participated. In 2005, over 7.5 million shoeboxes were sent worldwide. It helps to bring Christmas to children around the world who might not ever have a chance to share Christmas.

OCC is part of Samaritan’s Purse from Boone. It is headed by Franklin Graham, son of well-known evangelist Billy Graham. It was started by Bob Pierce after a missions venture. Later he wrote, as listed on the OCC website, “Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God." 

For further information on the UNCP project, contact Joel Beachum at jcb006@uncp.edu. For more information on Samaritan’s Purse or Operation Christmas Child, please visit http://www.samaritanspurse.org/ or http://samaritanspurse.org/OCC.asp?MPGID=1.