So far, we have collected 122-142 of each of the dessert items needed for the Christmas Meals project, leaving 158-178 of each item still needed by December 13 to fulfill our commitment to the food shelf.
There are less than 20 tags remaining for the Caring and Sharing gift project for local seniors, and only a handful of tags remaining for the Adopt A Family project.
You can also still bring items in for Toys for Tots and the Redeemer Store, but we don’t have specific goals for those projects.
Time is running out on some of the five community projects that Zion is partnering with this Christmas season. Please check out the list below and consider if you are able to contribute to one or more of them by donating requested items, volunteering your time, or making a financial contribution. Bins for donations to all projects, and a box for financial contributions to all projects (made out to Zion with the intended project in the memo) are located in the narthex.
Christmas Meals: Help the Buffalo Food Shelf and Zion Sunday School collect ingredients for 300 desserts to be included in Christmas meal bags for families in Buffalo. Boxes of cake mix, tubes of frosting, chocolate chips and cans of condensed milk are needed. This collection ends Sunday, December 13. Volunteers will be putting the dessert kits together at Zion on Tuesday, 12/15 at 6:30pm.
Adopt A Family: Help Rivers of Hope and Zion’s Social Ministry Committee collect gifts for Moms and children in Buffalo and Monticello who have been affected by domestic violence. This collection ends Sunday, December 13.
Christmas Store: Help Redeemer Lutheran Church and Zion’s Global Missions Committee collect gifts for boys and men in the Harrison neighborhood of North Minneapolis. This collection ends Friday, December 11. Volunteers are also welcome to help with the sale at Redeemer on Saturday, 12/12 at 8:30am.
Caring and Sharing: Help Buffalo Adult Day Care collect items requested by senior citizens in Wright County. Take a tag from the narthex and return a wrapped or unwrapped item with the tag attached. This collection ends Friday, December 18.
Toys for Tots: Help the Buffalo Rotary Club collect toys for children of all ages in the Buffalo school district. This collection ends Wednesday, December 23.
Zion’s Social Ministry Committee is working together with Rivers of Hope to provide survivors of family violence in Wright and Sherberne Counties. By adopting a family you can spread holiday cheer to families and kids in need. Rivers of Hope is providing wish lists for specific families. Take a tag from the narthex and return the unwrapped gift with the tag attached.
Request tags should be available approximately November 20. Please bring items by December 13.
Zion is partnering with the Rotary Club of Buffalo to provide toys to children from Buffalo and Montrose through Toys for Tots. Bring toys to the collection box at Zion or other local businesses by December 23.
Zion’s Sunday School students are working together with the Buffalo Food Shelf to provide a Christmas meal for families in Buffalo. The need has dramatically increased in Buffalo and the Food Shelf is expecting 300 family meal requests this year. Zion has committed to provide the dessert for this meal, which will include ingredients for a frosted cake and a pan of fudge. Please consider contributing one or more of the following items by December 13:
Volunteers are also invited to help make greeting cards and assemble dessert bags together on Tuesday evening, Dec. 15 at 6:30 in the Fellowship Hall.
Zion’s Global Missions Committee is working together with Redeemer Lutheran Church to give children in the Harrison neighborhood of North Minneapolis the opportunity to give Christmas gifts to their loved ones. The Christmas Store gives children the chance to buy four gifts for their family members and get them gift-wrapped for 25c per gift.
Please consider contributing a gift for a man or boy of any age by December 11.
Volunteers are also invited to volunteer at the event on December 12 from 8:30-noon at Redeemer Lutheran Church.
Zion is again partnering with Buffalo Adult Day Care to provide a gifts for senior citizens in Wright County. Take a tag from the wreath in the narthex and return a wrapped or unwrapped gift with the tag attached by December 18.
Need a creative gift idea for someone?
Want to give a gift that could make a difference in the world?
Ever thought about giving water buckets for a village or an alpaca for a farmer or a school uniform so a child can go to school?
And, do you l like the convenience of shopping on line?
You will want to take a look at the ELCA Good Gift Catalogue, where you can help and support brothers and sisters around the worlds with your gifts. This catalogue has more than 65 gift ideas filled with meaning and love. How about a mosquito net for $25 or a pig for $30 or a microloan for a new woman’s business for $125? ELCA Good Gifts are an opportunity to go beyond your regular congregational offering to support and strengthen the work of the ELCA. After you’ve completed your ELCA Good Gifts shopping, tell your loved ones about their ELCA Good Gifts with e-cards and printable gift cards.
Another avenue to give is through the gifts program of Lutheran World Relief. LWR Gifts send children to school, enable farmers to grow healthier, more diverse crops, and empower women to change their communities for the better. You will find suggestions sorted by categories, such as “children” and “critters” as well as price. LWR also gives you a way to send greetings to the person you are giving “in honor” or “in memory of.”
Or maybe you are looking for a special gift of jewelry or something for the kitchen; visit SERRV International, a nonprofit organization with a mission to eradicate poverty wherever it resides by providing opportunity and support to artisans and farmers worldwide. SERRV also works with famers who produce fair trade coffee and chocolate products.
This season consider bringing a little joy to the world through your support of any or all of these three partners in mission.
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