The nonprofit has an opportunity to tell the story of how the organization adapted to tremendous external changes in the last year.
For the past 17 years, Operation Care International has thrown the largest birthday party for the homeless and impoverished at the Dallas Convention Center in honor of Christ's birthday. The event is held on the third Saturday of December and takes place the Dallas Convention Center. Foot washing is the trademark service of the event; homeless men, women, and children are treated to a footwashing before they receive new socks and shoes; our volunteers pray with them, treating them with love, dignity, and respect, and every attendee hears the good news of the gospel.
Nine days before our event in 2020, City of Dallas informed us we could not hold our event in the convention center because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We were stunned and reeling. Ten thousand homeless and poor people would not receive the gifts of shoes, blankets, food, and clothing that we had collected for them all year!
By the grace of God, we were able to pivot. We changed our strategy and decided to distribute the gifts directly from the warehouse where they had been stored in preparation for the party. On Saturday, December 19, volunteers helped fill semi-trucks with goods and deliver them to 40+ DFW shelters and ministry partners! It was a tremendous blessing to give joy to the lost, the least, and the lonely, to still give Christmas gifts to 22,000 poor souls in and around Dallas, some of whom would not have received anything for the holiday if it had not been for God working through Operation Care.
In addition to this amazing, unprecedented distribution, despite the pandemic, 46 countries and 23 states all showed the love of Christ that same day with us, by meeting the spiritual and physical needs of the homeless and impoverished in their own communities. Visit our website, opcare.org, to see video clips of the happy faces of impoverished people from around the world who celebrated Jesus’ birthday with us last December—a worldwide celebration, unified on ONE DAY for the glory of our Lord.