Christmas Care 2011

 

Needed most at this point are gifts for the Holiday Store, where we help 350 inner city children choose gifts for their parents. We are hoping to receive at least 600 gifts by December 5.
 

If you would like to help make this happen but prefer not to shop, gift cards (Target) and cash donations are always welcome. We will happily send out our shoppers on your behalf!  

 

We also have lots of volunteer opportunities in the Holiday Store (at LSS, 2400 Park, Mpls.) on December 10.  It is a joy to see the excited faces of the children after they have had the dignity of choosing gifts for their caregivers. Sign up in Fellowship Hall. 

 

Contact Pastor Valerie Strand Patterson with questions at 763-475-7126 or vstrand@spdlc.org. And thank you -- your gifts make a difference.

 

Specific information for the various Christmas ministries follow: 

 

 

This is our second year of creating and providing gifts for a Holiday Store where children can shop for their parents, and then pick out a book for themselves. (Other churches will be providing a Holiday Store where parents will shop for their children.) The Holiday Stores will be located in separate rooms in the Lutheran Social Services Center for Changing Lives (CCL) complex, 2400 Park Avenue in Minneapolis, the location of Messiah Lutheran Church, and will be open on one day only, Saturday, December 10.  It will serve Phillips neighborhood families who have previously been adopted by our members, residents of the low-income housing units of LSS in that area, and families who use the food shelf.  A very small fee of $2 for adults and $1 for children will be charged for use of the Holiday Store, which last year, our first year, resulted in a dignified experience for those who participated. (Scholarships will be available for those who cannot afford the fee.)  The Holiday Stores give the children, as well as the adults, an opportunity to experience the joy of giving. We expect about 350 children and 500 adults to use the store.      

 

 

We are hoping for 500 new books  with non-violent, multicultural content, for babies through high school. All children will receive one or more books, with extras available to other Messiah ministries.

 

 

+   Remove or black out all PRICE tags (but feel free to leave other tags which show the item is new).

+   THE TOTAL GOAL:  750 gifts for adults (with some coming from other churches). Children will shop for their caregivers from our donations.

 

Windshield scrapers with brush                                      Clocks                                      Dominoes/cards/puzzles                                         Shaving kits*                        

Tools (sets can be broken down)*                     Nylon billfolds

T-shirts (size large/extra large)                 Winter hats/scarves             

Gloves*                                                                              Watches*

After shave/lotion *                                                     Music /CD’s*                                        

Flashlights with batteries attached*                                    Caps

Socks - white/color (can be bought in sets and broken down)

Scented lotions/bath oils/beads/bath gel*               Watches*

Music/CD’s                        Hair accessories/brushes/combs

Scarves                                                     Jewelry/jewelry boxes

Purses/bags*                      Sunglasses Holiday decorations                                       

Perfume*                                                                      *Stationery            

 

*NOTE: These gifts are chosen more frequently by the children and large quantities of them are needed.

 

+ Deliver gifts from St. Philip the Deacon to the Center for Changing Lives , 2400 Park Avenue, Minneapolis 

 

 

+  Help in the store as restockers, personal one-0n-one shoppers with the children, and gift wrappers.   Our Holiday Store will be open to our child shoppers one day only, Saturday, December 10, from 9 to noon and 1 - 3 p.m.  Volunteers should be 15 years and older.   However, younger children who like to wrap gifts could do so with parents. Each shift begins with an orientation.

 

 

Sign up in Fellowship Hall or contact Pastor Strand at vstrand@spdlc.org or 763-475-7126
 

(Gift drop off by December 14 in Fellowship Hall): Our church gives a gift to each of the 75 great children from the inner city, Kindergarten through 7^th grade, who attend Kaleidoscope, an after school and summer ministry, also located at the CCL.  

 

We are hoping for about 20  gifts in each of these four categories, with gifts costing about $15 each: 

Our Saviour’s Housing:   Shop for warm hats, gloves, socks, and treats, and pray for your person.         56 adults

Anishinable Wakiagun residence for Native Americans, Minneapolis:  Shop from a wish list and pray for your person.                         45 adults

Mission Lodge and Smith Lodge, Plymouth: Shop from a wish list and pray for your person.

 

+ Gifts for Home Free moms and kids (living in the shelter):    Shop from a general list of needed items - various values

+   Adopt a Home Free family (receiving services from Home Free and living outside the shelter): Shop from the family’s wish list and pray for your family. These wish lists are expected to arrive in early December.    Gifts are dropped off in Fellowship Hall.          About 12 families. 

 

Donate funds and/or volunteer on the above mornings to pack and distribute food baskets at the Center for Changing Lives, 2400 Park Avenue, Minneapolis for an estimated 350 families in need.

Email SPD member Tami to sign up and get all the details at tjfchampeau@comcast.net