Filling shoe boxes with gifts for children in need has become a tradition in many homes leading up to Christmas over the years, 25 to be exact.

This marks the 25th anniversary of the red and green Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes and one Landmark woman has been packing shoeboxes for all 25 of them. Ina Reimer runs the shoebox store out of the Landmark Christian Fellowship Church.

"I had a younger aunt that passed away and when she did, her kids asked: 'in honor of [our] mother, can we put extra shoe boxes together?'" says Reimer as she explains the story behind her passion for filling shoeboxes and how the store got started.

"I went in front of our church and told anyone who was interested in helping me put extra shoe boxes together that I would be purchasing things. I had people giving me ten bucks and twenty bucks and I was getting mixed up which pocket was full of who’s money so I decided I’m just going to go purchase items. For the first few years, it was my husband and my cash purchasing items and we realized, as this was growing and people were more and more interested in having my help and input, that it needed to become bigger and better."

She says filling shoeboxes and delivering them to kids in need is such a fulfilling experience. Reimer explains why she takes on this task year after year. 

The shoebox store in the Landmark Christian Fellowship Church

"The biggest reason why I’m doing it is that I want to have a box filled with useful things, things that are going to be appreciated and also things that can stay in the box because a box is just that crucial," says Reimer, "we’re trying to facilitate people being able to come here and enjoy Christmas traditions which some people have said, ‘I don’t ever stop this because this is our Christmas tradition. We’re happy to be able to do that in order to honour these kids.'"

Reimer says the process of filling and delivering shoeboxes has changed drastically over the years and they are now able to send boxes to hundreds of thousands of children around the world every year. According to Samaritan's Purse, to date, over 157 million Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes have been collected and distributes worldwide to children who may not otherwise receive gifts at Christmas.

Reimer adds with this being the 25th anniversary, she is encouraging those who enter her store to put together one more shoebox than they normally would. Each shoebox represents a child and can make a world of a difference, she concludes.

The shoebox store in Landmark opened its doors this past week and will continue operating until November 17th.