Everybody likes something cuddly. That’s why nine-year-old Kate Strickland, of Franconia, likes to put a stuffed animal in each of the Operation Christmas Child shoe box gift packages she helps fill. “They go to children that are in war or poverty situations,” said Anita Strickland, Kate’s mother and coordinator for the packing station at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Harleysville.

The boxes are customized for a boy or a girl and within age ranges, helping give the donors a better idea of what to send. A brochure also offers suggestions.

“I just think of different categories like toys and toothbrushes,” the third grader at Penn View Christian School said in describing how she chooses what to send.

The gifts are distributed in more than 100 countries, including the United States, said Lynnette Dallman, a volunteer who serves as southeast Pennsylvania area coordinator.

“Seven point nine million shoe boxes were collected in 2008 and we’re looking for 8.2 million in 2009,” Dallman said.

The goal is to get 60,000 of those from southeast Pennsylvania.

“We ended up with 9,118, which filled both of the trucks,” at Covenant, Anita Strickland said.

That almost hit the 10,000 goal from there.

Along with collections at the church, Covenant was also a starting place for shoe box shipments received throughout the area, including at Berean Bookstore and in Colmar, Pottstown, Norristown, Downingtown and the Roxborough section of Philadelphia.

Kate and Anita Strickland are just two of what is a family affair of helping out with the Operation Christmas Child gift boxes, Anita Strickland said.

Anita’s parents, husband, Bob, and teenage sons Wes, a Christopher Dock student, and Seth, a Penn View student, also have been part of the crew.

At 90 years old, Dock Woods resident Sarah Bruce, Anita Strickland’s great aunt, is also still helping by knitting dolls to go in the shoe box gift boxes.

“This year, she made 67 dolls,” Strickland said.

Along with donating and filling the boxes, donors are encouraged to pray for the child who will be the recipient.

“I really like that the children receive a gift, but they also learn about Christ through this project. They learn that God loves them and it’s a way they can feel that love,” Anita Strickland said.

Operation Christmas Child information says the program is the largest Christmas project in the world.

It’s something any person can become involved in, Dallman, of Allentown, said.