It's only October, but Bev Alexander is already gearing up for Christmas.

She's getting ready to receive as many as one thousand shoe boxes full of gifts for children from 19 or more churches, service clubs, schools, individuals and businesses in this part of the province, from Carlyle to Midale.

"It's fun," said Bev, who has also gone to the other end of the agency called Operation Christmas Child, which organizes the program, to see the gift boxes distributed.

"I've seen children receive them. The parents come and say, 'thank you so much,' It's cool to see it."

Bev has been twice to Mexico to see distribution of the gifts and will go to Nicaragua this January to see it again.

Operation Christmas Child is a project of the international Christian relief organization Samaritan's Purse, headed by Franklin Graham, the son of evangelist Billy Graham.

Locally, the Christmas shoe boxes have been dropped off at the Free Methodist Church in Weyburn for the past five years. The deadline is Saturday, Nov. 15.

Bev packs them for transport to Regina, a service donated by Quill Transport. For the past few years, Bev has received so many shoe boxes they won't all fit into the back of a half-ton truck and other transportation had to be arranged.

From Regina, they go to Calgary, where they are inspected for content, and prepared for flight. Most of the local boxes are sent to South and Central America, she said.

The gift boxes can be any size, depending on the generosity of the donor, said Bev. The agency asks that a $5 donation be taped inside the lid to cover shipping costs.

Four basic items are usually sent: hygiene items like toothbrushes and toothpaste or brushes and combs; school supplies like pens, pencils, crayons, colouring books; toys and candy. Gifts like T-shirts, ball caps, shoes, are all welcome.

Nothing breakable can go in the boxes, no worn out items, and nothing perishable like chocolate, she said. Each box is distributed to one child so the donor should decide if the gift is for a girl or boy, ages two-to-four years, five-to-nine, or 10-14.