The annual Operation Christmas Child drive to provide gifts and necessities for children in need around the world is sending over 60,000 boxes to children in areas hit hard by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

Franklin Graham, head of Samaritan’s Purse, spoke of the importance of these gifts to those children.

“Do you know what these gifts are going to mean to these kids? It means that somebody loves them, it means they haven’t been forgotten. It will mean everything in the world. It will give these little kids hope,” Graham said at an event in New York.

The New York event included families impacted by Hurricane Sandy last year.

“I packed stuffed animals, which I think they will hold at night and fear for nothing and know that God will be in control,” 11-year-old Diana Barbacena told the Christian Post. Barbacena had to be evacuated last year from her home when Hurricane Sandy struck the Atlantic Coast.

Overall, Operation Christmas Child celebrated its 20th anniversary by collecting around 9.8 million shoeboxes full of gifts and supplies for children in over 100 countries on six continents.