To the editor:

Thank you for a job well done, Lawrence and Douglas County area residents.

I was a relay center coordinator for Operation Christmas Child, a shoe box mission project of Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse. Area churches, groups and individuals brought 2,539 filled shoe boxes to First Christian Church for delivery to the Overland Park Collection Center. From Overland Park the boxes go to a processing center in Minnesota. From processing centers, they are delivered around the world to needy children in desperate situations. Worldwide, more than 8 million boxes will be distributed this year.

A special big thank you to Bobby Jones and Professional Movers for providing the truck and two men to take the boxes to Overland Park. It is so wonderful to live in such a loving, giving part of the “Heartland.”

Katie Studebaker,

Lawrence