When it comes to stocking stuffing, nothing beats Neighbor2Neighbor.
This cheerful Christ-centered community ministry proved that this year when it partnered with Waynesburg University to stuff stockings for a first – but hopefully not last – “I’m dreaming of a Greene Christmas” event on December 10 at the Benedum Dining Hall.
It was the perfect sunny December day as a slew of families and excited kids lined up to wait for the doors to open at 11 am.
The wait was made sweeter by music, hot chocolate and lots of holiday cheer as volunteers like Executive Director Bill Burns moved through the line, passing out drinks, chatting, holding hands, laughing, sharing stories and laughing some more.
“To go to church is important, but to BE the church is essential,” Neighbor2Neighbor Greene County Coordinator Renee Wright shared when I interviewed earlier, adding that volunteers representing 35 southwest Pennsylvania churches do neighborly outreach, with coat and holiday drives, Laundromat ministry and prayer.
Today she had on her fuzzy Santa baseball hat and jingle bell necklace, cheerfully ready to be a sermon in her shoes as the people in line caught the spirit with her.
There was no preregistration and everything was free. Those who entered filled out cards specifying what they needed, then WU students and volunteers from local churches took them through the dining hall-turned-mall for their shopping spree. Tables of new hoodies, toys, toothpaste, shampoo and toiletries lined every wall and there were 20-inch stockings to stuff for families with kids. On the way out shoppers were treated to boxes of cookies and boxed lunches and a cheery God bless you.
Leadership service initiative grants offered through the Richard King Mellon Foundation are used to fund these kinds of on and off campus projects to help Greene County address community needs, Center for Leadership and Bonar Scholar director Adrianne Tharp told me.
Professor of Chemistry Heidi Fletcher applied for and received a grant to help fill the stockings with the goodies that were then listed on Facebook to alert the community to this holiday offering. In the days leading up to the 10th, Hilltop Packs Coffee Co. offered free cups of coffee to those who dropped off donations.
“What an amazing day! We had 29 volunteers and were able to serve 120 families, stuff 336 stockings with new toys,” Wright texted the next day. She noted that 120 hoodies and 200 to-go meals also went home with the satisfied shoppers.
Afterwards, those who volunteered, participated and benefitted gave their thumbs up on Facebook to a great new addition to Greene County’s season of giving. Some are already looking forward to next year. Some are already volunteering to help out.
To learn more, look up Neighbor2Neighbor on Facebook and see what everybody’s talking about.
Merry Christmas! And God bless us, every one!