Operation Christmas Child changes the lives of millions of children in need every year.

The initiative, headed up by global organization Samaritan’s Purse, asks volunteers to fill up shoeboxes with toys, school supplies and hygiene products based on the age group specified. Samaritan’s Purse representatives then deliver these boxes during the holiday season to children experiencing poverty, war-torn living conditions and/or natural disasters.

Eastern North Carolina is expected to donate more than 13,300 shoeboxes to the cause in 2016.

This cause is an important one, as it highlights children who are at a high risk of falling between the cracks. There is nothing more important than the wellbeing of children. Just as the children growing up in Beaufort County are the future of this area, the children growing up in these poor or ravaged areas are the future of their own respective nations. Their generation may be the one to turn things around and make it a better place to live.

With the holiday season right around the corner, now is the time to start giving back if one hasn’t done so already.

The Washington area can donate shoeboxes to Harvest Church on 15^th Street in Washington during the following times: Nov. 14-16, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Nov. 17, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Nov. 18, from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Nov. 19, from noon to 4 p.m., Nov. 20, from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., and Nov. 21, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Operation Christmas Child is a noble cause, and it’s just one in a sea of ways to pass on a little kindness. Whether one chooses to fill a shoebox, or decides on another worthy cause, giving back and making a difference is most important, no matter how it is done.