A Spirit of Giving

A Spirit of Giving

WRITTEN BY AMANDA TRONCONE

When you enter through the doors of First Evangelical Free Church, you will find people whose hearts overflow with generosity in every pew. Our church is grateful for your continued giving during this year of uncertainty. It has not gone unnoticed. As we have approached the holiday season, we again turned to you for donations and gifts for our annual Operation Christmas Child campaign as well as our Harvest Home food collection.

Throughout October, we collected Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes for Samaritan’s Purse International Relief. We asked everyone to take a shoebox and fill it with items for kids from ages 2 -14. Each box can be filled with toys, crafts and activities, personal care items, clothing and accessories and, of course, a “wow” item! During National Collection Week, Pastor Joel transported the over 200 boxes we collected to a drop off location!

Each year, the Deacon Board organizes ourHarvest Home collection for recipients withinour First Free Family.

The board gathers the items collected, packs the boxes, and writes notes to recipients before delivering the boxes as a surprise.As Sarah Howard, deaconess, said,” It’s more than food. It's a reminder that we, as the church, care about people and meeting the needs of people in our community.”

During Harvest Home, we collect traditional Thanksgiving foods as well as pantry staples and proteins including canned fruits and veggies, dessert mixes, pastas, peanut butter, canned chicken and tuna, and drink mixes. Plus, First Free provides a gift card to Giant Eagle to each household to purchase a turkey or other perishable food items.

We were able to give two large boxes of food to 15 families this year thanks to you and your generosity.

We know that 2020 has been a difficult year for many families physically, spiritually, and financially, so we want to offer a huge THANK YOU to you and your families for supporting others during this holiday season.