This Christmas, we were able to give over 333 food hampers, and 648 gifts to families and individuals in need in 16 places around NSW.
Twenty-seven Presbyterian churches were represented in the group of people who were involved directly through collecting and donating goods, volunteering their time to pack or transport, storing hampers and distributing the gifts to people in need. In addition to this, the PWA’s Dorcas Committee and other generous donors contributed funds to the project which helped us purchase the remaining items needed.
An especially big thank you to our friends at GracePoint Presbyterian Church who offered their church as our venue for the project all week, and provided a lot of the volunteer-power we needed to get everything done.
Want to be part of the project next time?
There are so many ways to get involved and work with others in the Presbyterian community to share love with those in need.
CHURCHES
- Nominate recipients: Your church may be aware of people who are doing it tough and would appreciate receiving a hamper or gift. Churches can request hampers and gifts when we’re running Packed with Love.
- Collect goods: As you can see, we need to collect a lot of food and gift items in order to put together so many hampers. Your church can help us out by contributing items needed. We list what we need in the lead up to the project, but you can get in contact if you want to know more.
- Share your space: One thing that Packed with Love requires is space. Space to store goods in the lead up, and collection points once the things are ready. Jericho Road has very limited storage space, so if your church could offer some room in the weeks leading up to the project, or are happy to be a pick-up point, let us know!
- Contribute funds: Each hamper is packed with goods valued at around $70. It’s often difficult to collect enough goods for the project which means we need to purchase what remains. Every donation goes a long way. Your church could raise funds to help us cover the cost of this valuable project.
- Send volunteers: If you’re a Sydney-based church, why not promote Packed with Love as an opportunity for your people to serve? It’s also a great time to connect with people from other churches as you work together to serve the wider community.
- Run Packed with Love locally: Logistically, it’s a bit more difficult to transport hampers and gifts very long distances from where they’re put together. But we don’t want that to stop your church from getting involved! If you’re in a regional area and would like to be able to give out hampers and gifts, Jericho Road may be able to provide the funds to help you do this. Get in touch – we’d love to assist!
INDIVIDUALS
- Collect goods: The best gift items come from individuals who have thoughtfully purchased things that they know will be appreciated by someone in need. You could collect gift items throughout the year to contribute to the project and be given to someone in need at Christmas.
- Volunteer: There are so many ways that you can volunteer your time to help! There are things that need picking up, boxes that need assembling and labeling, hampers that need packing, gifts that need bagging, and different transport needs. It’s a great opportunity to meet people from other churches, and use your time to help others.
- Transport hampers: If you’ve got a large vehicle or trailer and could help us transport goods, we’d love to hear from you! This would save us doing many trips in our smaller vehicles when it comes time to transport goods and hampers between locations.
Keen? We’d love to hear from you even if it’s still months until we run the project again – that helps us plan what is possible based on how much help we’ll have!
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