In 2001, Pastor Patti
Anderson began a mission project at PGUMC that has continued through
this year. The goal - to provide Christmas gifts to the children of
families served by the Capron Food Pantry. Following church services on
Sunday, and using the money earned through numerous fundraisers, 17
youth and 5 adults headed for Shopko in Belvidere to buy gifts for 59
children. The youth each took a tag with a child's gender and age and
picked out appropriate gifts. After the purchases were complete
everyone headed back to the church for pop and pizza to charge our
batteries for the big gift wrap job ahead! After 7 years of doing this
mission, the youth have it down to a science! By 3:30 pm all the gifts
were wrapped and sorted by family, placed in a bag with candy and school
supplies and tied with a ribbon! Looking at all the festive bags of
gifts brought everyone the real sense of Christmas - the blessing of
giving. This is a mission that will live on for many years.
