A semi will pick up thousands of shoe boxes in Kelowna, Wednesday – filled with gifts for poor children around the world.

Mike Penninga, senior pastor at Kelowna Gospel Fellowship Church, says Operation Christmas Child has collected nearly 5,000 shoe boxes in the Central Okanagan. 

"It’s been an incredibly exciting week," he said. "We have seen nearly 5,000 shoeboxes collected from the Central Okanagan, which is incredible." 

The semi will take the care packages to a processing facility in Calgary, where they will be checked and sent on to countries in Central America, Western Africa, and the Ukraine. 

All told, Operation Christmas Child will collect more than 12 million shoe boxes from 10 countries and distribute them to 100 countries this year.