Christmas For Kids

Our Church just finished an amazing outreach event called Christmas for Kids.

Now in its 17th year, the Christmas for Kids ministry has become a tradition at Christ’s Church. This year, we provided and delivered Christmas gifts to approximately 1100 financially-needy families in the Jacksonville area.



The 1100 individuals included 200 senior adults, 35 refugee children and 26 children of missionaries that Christ’s Church supports.

Names and wish lists are gathered from local agencies beginning in August. The wish lists are then distributed to Christ’s Church families during the month of November. This year all 1100 individuals had been “adopted” in just three weekends.



PARTNERING AGENCIES

Seventeen local agencies and organizations partnered with us by obtaining and providing the wish lists of each individual we sponsor. These agencies included the following:
Angelwood – Children’s home for the developmentally disabled
Baptist Home for Children – Foster care program
Boys Home Association – Local group home for boys usually abused or neglected
Christ’s Church – Needs within our own congregation
Community Connections – (YWCA) Inner city and other low income youth
Community Connections/Clay County – Previously homeless families often called “the working poor”
Dreams Come True – Terminally ill children
Healthy Families/Healthy Start or First Coast Family Center – program to assist low income, often single mothers learning to raise their children and improve their living situations.
Lutheran Social Services – Family refugee program
Mandarin Oaks Elementary – Low income students
Missionary Children – Missionaries sponsored by Christ’s Church
Nemours Children’s Clinic – Children with cancer
Shands Pediatric Hematology – Children with sickle cell
Shands Rainbow Center – Children with AIDS
World Relief Agency – Family refugee program
Jacksonville Senior Services – Financially needy homebound elderly adults
Urban Jacksonville – Financially needy and frail homebound elderly adults

The local newspaper ran an article on this event: http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/121306/ner_6687394.shtml.

I think that any church could do this type of program. It's not rocket-science . . . it's love and I know our churches know how to love.