Christmas Giving Tree at Zion Lutheran ChurchDEADLINE: NOVEMBER 29, 2020

Each year during November, we typically collect gifts for one or sometimes two families with children in our community.

HOWEVER, THIS YEAR... due to the COVID pandemic, rather than ask our members to go out shopping for a sponsored family during this Covid pandemic, we have decided to make a financial donation to the Southern Community Services’ ELVES Project. If your wish to support this project, please deposit your donation with a memo for ELVES with your Sunday offering. The deadline date for contributions is Sunday, November 29th. Thank you in advance for your continued generosity to this worthy cause. 

We hope that, by November 2021, we can once again return to our usual campaign which is as follows:

We set up a "Giving Tree" in the back of the Fellowip Hall.  The tree starts out filled with paper ornaments -- each showing a gift wish from one of the children in the family/families that we sponsor.  Typically, we sponsor a total of four children. Between early November and early December when the program ends, the ornaments will disappear. Then gifts will begin to show up under the tree.

We do this in partnership with the Southern Community Services organization as part of their project called ELVES (Everyone Loves Volunteering Especially Santa).  Each year, the Southern Community Services group will send us a list of the children for whom we will provide gifts, and the list will include each child's age, clothing sizes and favorite toys or activities.  Then, our congregation gets to work purchasing those gifts.

How Can You Help?

  1. Visit the Giving Tree in the back of the Fellowship Hall and browse the ornaments.
  2. Choose one or more ornaments and shop for the items shown on the ornaments.
  3. Bring your UNWRAPPED items back to church and deposit along with the ornament near the Giving Tree.
  4. In early December, when the program closes, all items will be taken to Southern Community Services from where they will be given to the parents of each child.  The parents then wrap each item to be given to the child on Christmas morning.  

It is a beautiful way for our congregation to fulfill our commitment to serve those in need in our community as the holiday season prevails. 

We hope you will help us to help others by contributing as you are able.  Susan Hengst (717-235-1039) coordinates our Giving Tree program and would be glad to answer any questions or to discuss how you might help if you are so inclined.