Feeding the Hungry
The Holidays are upon us again. This is the time of year when we gear up for our annual Holiday Food Basket Project. We anticipate fewer donations than usual from otside sources, so whatever you can do to help us make up the difference will be appreciated. In the past we have served around 200 families. Most of the referrals come from probabtion officers, counselors and volunteers who worked with families in the Juvenile Justice System, Department of Social Services, ACCESS (a support program for individuals infected with AIDS) and OASIS Social Ministries. Each basket contains a whole meal, with a 12 lb. turkey, pumpkin pie, etc. that can feed a family of four. A $25.00 donation covers the cost of the whole meal or you can donate any amount of money. Please write your check to "St. Christopher's", memo: "Holiday Food Basket" and put it in the offering plate or send it to the Parish Office. In 1997, St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church sponsored a family for Christmas. This was the typical angel tree and we had gifts for the kids, parent and shopping cards for Walmart and Food lion. We spent over $800.00 on this one family. They were appreciative and definitely had a wonderful Christmas that year. Some of us thought that we could serve a lot more families in need with the $800.00 by doing something different. At that time, St. Christopher’s was a host church for SHARE, a non-profit community building organization, offering a nutritious food package ($28 – $30 value) to anyone for $14.00 and two hours of community service. During the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, Share offered a holiday basket with all the fixings that would serve a family of 4 – 6 people for $15.00. We figured that by buying the holiday baskets and distributing them, we could serve many more families rather than supporting one family with an angel tree. In 1998, we applied for the Seeds of Hope Grant through the Dioceses of Southern Virginia. The grant provides a one time $1500 seed grant to parishes looking to provide a service to the community. We got it. We decided that each following year we would use the Christmas loose offering to start off the fund raising for the holiday baskets each year. In 1998, we had enough to purchase and distribute 104 baskets. Through the Christmas offering, Virginia Juvenile Justice and private donations we raise enough funds to purchase our goal of baskets each year. We get the referrals through VJJA, Full Circle and Oasis Social Ministries and all of the recipients our in the Tidewater\Hampton Roads area. Most of them live in Portsmouth, Chesapeake and Suffolk. 1998 – 104 baskets 2009 – 193 baskets Holiday Baskets Project
2011 Holiday Food Basket Project
ALL DONATIONS NEED TO BE TURNED IN BY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4. Distribution day will be Saturday, December 17.
St. Christopher's History with the Holiday Food Basket Project