County

Meeker and Rangely gather 400 boxes for Operation Christmas Child

Bethanie, the 2-year-old daughter of Rangely Christian Church’s Pastor Shannon and Krystal Brumfield, proudly carries in one of the Operation Christmas Child boxes.
Bethanie, the 2-year-old daughter of Rangely Christian Church’s Pastor Shannon and Krystal Brumfield, proudly carries in one of the Operation Christmas Child boxes.
RANGELY I Over the last six years, a group of churches in Rangely along with a few caring individuals have worked to provide needed hygiene and school supplies and a toy or two to children in impoverished nations around the world by participation in Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child.
Stephanie Hogan, coordinator for the program at Rangely Christian Church, believes in the importance of Operation Christmas Child.

“People, children especially, in poverty-stricken countries do without so much and seeing the videos of the joy on those children’s faces makes me realize I can do something even from my small town to show them the love of Jesus,” she said. “I’m all about planting seeds, especially in children because they are our future; you never know what an act of kindness will reap and I just trust God to do the rest.”
A few years into the program, Hogan realized that another local church, Grace Baptist, was also participating.

On Monday, volunteers showcased the many gift boxes donated by Meeker folks to the Operation Christmas Child box campaign.  The individuals and families of Meeker did a great job putting together a total of 364 shoe box gifts in December. This year’s efforts were significantly greater than previous years and that was consistent with reports from other locations in Western Colorado. These boxes of gifts went to the regional drop-off center in Grand Junction, one of more than 4,000 such locations across the country. Last year alone, more than 10 million shoeboxes went as gifts to needy boys and girls around the world. Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan’s Purse© and a number of Meeker’s local churches participate, including Emmanuel Baptist Church, which was the gathering spot for the donations/boxes.
On Monday, volunteers showcased the many gift boxes donated by Meeker folks to the Operation Christmas Child box campaign. The individuals and families of Meeker did a great job putting together a total of 364 shoe box gifts in December. This year’s efforts were significantly greater than previous years and that was consistent with reports from other locations in Western Colorado. These boxes of gifts went to the regional drop-off center in Grand Junction, one of more than 4,000 such locations across the country. Last year alone, more than 10 million shoeboxes went as gifts to needy boys and girls around the world. Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan’s Purse© and a number of Meeker’s local churches participate, including Emmanuel Baptist Church, which was the gathering spot for the donations/boxes.
“I figured why not combine our efforts so only one person would need to deliver the boxes to the nearest drop-off site (Vernal or Grand Junction) and we have been collaborating ever since,” she said.
Participants can choose the age range and gender of the child that they’d like to prepare a box for and then bring the box to either Rangely Christian Church or Grace Baptist. The program has expanded to include those who want to help, but don’t necessarily have the time to put together a box.
“Several years ago I realized that some people don’t have the time or inclination to pack boxes but still want to help, so I offered that our youth group would do the shopping and packing with any donations people wanted to make, and that has been a huge success,” Hogan said.
The first year of the program, 20 boxes were produced for poverty stricken children.
However, this year’s totals evidence how much the program has grown with Rangely Christian Church putting together 51 boxes, Grace Baptist providing 44 and another dozen produced from other individuals for a total of 107 boxes.
For an additional $7 donation box makers can print off a shipping label from the Samaritan’s Purse website to track their box and learn what country it was delivered to.
Those who are interested in learning more about the program or contributing for next Christmas can contact either Rangely Christian Church or Grace Baptist.
Box collection occurs the third week of November each year.

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  • It’s getting late, do you know where your kids are? Read all the Rio Happenings for this week in print or online at ht1885.com.
  • Mormon crickets have hatched near Rangely. They were all sighted on BLM land north of Hwy. 64 near the junction of CR 96 and CR 1, down a dirt road near the Moffat County line.  The picture shown was taken yesterday by Mary Meinen from Rangely. She says the crickets are about the size of a ladybug (less than 1/2”). Some of them are actually yellow in color but most of them are darker. They are milling around and getting ready to start moving soon. Note: Photo is not to scale.
Rio Blanco County and the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts are still asking for your help to identify additional hatch-outs of crickets so that control efforts can be put in place. The success of the program will highly depend upon local landowners and the public helping to locate crickets as soon as they hatch.  See last week’s paper for a list of ways to help or contact the County Weed & Pest District at 970-878-9670 or the Conservation District office at 970-878-9838 with any questions. Website: www.WhiteRiverCD.com
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  • Choose-your-own-adventure…. Hear from our Editor in this week’s edition and online at ht1885.com.
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It's that time again! Another edition of great local news stories is 
🐰 Hopping 🐰 your way this morning! Catch up on everything thats 🐣 hatching 🐣 in Rio Blanco County this week.
Need a copy? Signing up is fast and easy! Visit our website at ht1885.com/subscribe to get a copy sent to your door every week! 
We appreciate all your continued support!
It's that time again! Another edition of great local news stories is 🐰 Hopping 🐰 your way this morning! Catch up on everything thats 🐣 hatching 🐣 in Rio Blanco County this week. Need a copy? Signing up is fast and easy! Visit our website at ht1885.com/subscribe to get a copy sent to your door every week! We appreciate all your continued support!
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Rio Blanco County and the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts are still asking for your help to identify additional hatch-outs of crickets so that control efforts can be put in place. The success of the program will highly depend upon local landowners and the public helping to locate crickets as soon as they hatch.  See last week’s paper for a list of ways to help or contact the County Weed & Pest District at 970-878-9670 or the Conservation District office at 970-878-9838 with any questions. Website: www.WhiteRiverCD.com
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