As 2020 has seemed such a crazy year, shoeboxes may have gone to the back burner of our minds, and when they pop to the front, some may even question if shoeboxes can still be distributed in a year like this? Well the answer is: yes, they can! Samaritian's Purse and Operation Christmas Child are working hard to make collection as safe as possible. You can read their plans here: https://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/covid-19/. They're also coordinating with their ministry partners in the distributing countries for safely getting shoeboxes to the kids. I'm sure their health experts are helping them make these decisions, and they should be experts as they're working in multiple continents helping respond to the Covid crisis: https://www.samaritanspurse.org/our-ministry/global-covid-19-response/.
So, they're working on their end, it's up to us to work on our end. I'm sure packing parties will be looking different. The OCC link above has ideas for making packing parties safer. If you pack as an individual, that removes a few of the variables, but shopping may still be kinda tricky depending on your risk level, and the outbreak level in your area. Thankfully we got a lot early this year, and were able to get most of the rest online or thru curbside pick-up. If that doesn't work for you, remember there is an option to build a box online: https://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/buildonline/