Grace Church once again has the opportunity to partner with 441 Ministries and New City Fellowship to distribute boxes of Christmas gifts to children connected to their programs. For the last four years, our church has filled anywhere from 50-60 shoebox-sized packages with small luxuries— toys, games, nail polish, stuffed animals, etc. These boxes have provided many opportunities for connection and to demonstrate love to families in the Beechwood neighborhood. In our own church, these boxes are a blessing too. They remind us to be praying for our community and to be generous to others. For families, they can be an opportunity for a group activity and a teaching moment.
It is heartwarming to see the engagement and support of the congregation in this endeavor.
We are currently waiting for a final headcount of kids from 441. However, the Outreach Team wanted to announce this now because the timeline for the boxes needs to move up a week sooner than normal to accommodate adjusted dates for 441’s annual Christmas Party. (Plus, you can be on the lookout for Black Friday sales!)
There will be multiple ways to participate.
Prayer! This is a crucial part of this effort. Our efforts are fruitless unless God establishes them. Pray for the children, their families, and the 441 volunteers and staff who will engage with them.
Fill a box! Box pickup will be on Sunday, November 16th. Each box will be associated to a gender, age range, and a specific name to pray for. (If you will not be in town on November 16th but want to participate, email Anna Heisey at heiseyanna@gmail.com.) Guidance for filling the box will be provided. To help you plan, these boxes typically cost between $30-$40 per child.
Sponsor! If you don’t feel comfortable filling a box yourself, don’t have time, or aren’t able to get to the store, you can choose to sponsor an “elf”! Our youth group elves will be going shopping together on December 3rd to fill any sponsored boxes. Sponsorships are $40 for a full box or $20 for a half box. Sponsorship checks should be made out to Grace Church PCA with a memo line of “441 Box Sponsor” and given to the church or Anna Heisey. If you choose to sponsor, please let us know and have your donation submitted by December 1st.
Gift Wrapping! Each year, we need a handful of people to help check, wrap, and label the boxes before they go to 441.
Stay tuned for additional information. If you have any questions, please reach out to Anna Heisey at heiseyanna@gmail.com.