More Blessed
Some are like clockwork, the secretary tells me; they are there on the designated day, no matter what. Others are frequent visitors but not quite as regular.
A month ago Laura wrote to the congregation with the idea of providing Christmas gift bags for the adults who come to the food pantry. She wanted to make about fifteen bags, mostly for women, but some for male patrons. She said she was looking for someone to come help her put bags together, one afternoon early in December.
Look no further!
Today was the day! Laura and I spent an hour in the great room, ending up with seventeen gift bags. I didn't get a photo at the end of the project, but here is what things looked like at the beginning.
People were so generous! Each female patron received a scarf, a piece of jewelry, a candle, a lotion and/or bath gel, and something else. I had made enough pot holders to contribute so that each recipient had one of those. There were socks, wallets, gloves, dish towels, word puzzle books, all kinds of things.
We had fun and I got the distinct feeling that this is just the first year we'll be doing this. I think I'll aim for twenty pot holders for 2017.
Comments
For Nancy's fans - when I promoted this I asked the congregation for new items which they might have already had at home but weren't going to use. Most of us have lotions which aren't our scent, candles which we will never use, a scarf which isn't in our color scheme. Certainly we received gifts which people had purchased. But my goal was to fill the bags without costing our members much money. They give generously all year round to our food pantry. And, to other various programs within and outside our congregation that I didn't want this to be a financial burden. Just something fun! Thank you for your interest.
Hugs!
For years we have gone to the homeless that live in Chicago under the Wacker Street Bridge to disburse clothes and always include bags such as these. No matter what city you are in these is a homeless community. In a perfect world we would find a home for everyone.
xx, Carol