Food Distribution
For Thanksgiving and Christmas we distributed more than 335 bags of food to families so that they could prepare their own holiday meals.
In addition, pre-registered clients received a grocery gift card in order to purchase any additional items they needed for the holidays. Others received a turkey, ham, or chicken.
At Thanksgiving, thanks to the dedicated work of volunteers, we were able to provide a choice of spices, baking items, fresh produce and more to accompany the food bags. We identified that no-salt seasoning, cooking oil, and fresh red peppers were all popular items.
We want to thank everyone who supported this important ministry: those churches and individuals who donated to our Buy-A-Bird campaign, Twin Oaks Christian School and First Congregational Church, who helped fill our Thanksgiving bags, Hope United Church of Christ and St. Johns Evangelical United Church of Christ who provided fresh produce for Thanksgiving, and the Sharing God’s World group from St. Johns who helped sort the produce for distribution on Thanksgiving. Thank you also to City Garden Montessori School for help setting up for our Christmas distribution. And thank you to John Burroughs School and SLU Hospital for their incredible holiday food drives.
As always, we are continuing to receive feedback so that we can improve our holiday distribution in 2019.
Holiday Store
Our Holiday Store was a huge success this year, thanks in large part to all of the wonderful donations of toys, games and other gifts donated by local churches and individuals. With your generous donations we were able to provide over 107 families with gifts for the holidays. Everyone was so excited and grateful for the opportunity to shop for their family members and give them quality gifts from the heart.
Thank you also to the many volunteers who assisted with the Christmas store by restocking items, assisting shoppers, and helping with check-out. We couldn’t have done it without you!