It's down to the wire for the final week of Operation Christmas Child in Portage la Prairie. The program supplies a shoebox per child filled with Christmas gifts for children in impoverished nations.

Volunteer Lucy van Dongen says the weather usually tips people off about gift giving time.

"It is shoebox season and even though the weather doesn't make us think about gift-giving and Christmas, the shoebox deadline is coming up on Sunday the 20th. We just want to remind people that they need to get their shoeboxes done. And if they've never done one before, they will think about doing one. They can drop it off right up until Sunday."

She says dropoff locations include Solomon's Home Garden and Gift, Prairie Alliance Church, Portage Evangelical Church, and the Portage Regional Library.

Van Dongen wants to ensure you know that access to the official Portage Mall drop-off location on Sunday's deadline only takes place in the back doors on the north side of the mall.