Thanks to the generosity of church members and friends, donations totaling $5,010 through our Advent giving tree are already doing good in the community. Our Homeless Task Force counted on you to come through when we ordered four cots and two dozen blankets for the Westside Neighbors Shelter and when we purchased Safeway gift cards so that school families could have extra food during the long winter break.

For the Welcome Table, your donations enabled us to fill 30 gift bags for children, selected to encourage fun, skill development, creativity, interaction, and movement without stressing already stressed parents. We will soon purchase underwear and hand warmers for guests most in need of them this season. Finally, our Immigration Task Force used giving-tree donations to purchase gift cards so that our asylum-seeking Peruvian families could buy household essentials.

Thank you again for giving from the heart to aid so many people. Let’s do it again next year!