Packed with Love - the gift of FOOD at Christmas!

Originally published as ‘Jericho Road and Partnering Together: Packed with Love 2023’ in the Presbyterian Pulse magazine | Sep-Oct 2023 edition

Jericho Road is where we meet our neighbour. It’s where we show Christ’s compassion. It is where we visit the prisoner, feed the hungry, comfort the troubled.

Packed with Love is a project of Jericho Road, bringing together people from the Presbyterian community across the state to show the love of Jesus through practical assistance. Providing food hampers to those in need; giving gifts that have been packed with love to those experiencing hardship – these simple gestures can have an incredible impact on people’s lives. Jericho Road has had the privilege to coordinate this project for several years now, and we have heard the stories of how these hampers and gifts have allowed church congregations to show love to their neighbours – with the help of others in the PCNSW community providing the resources to do so.

Look back on Packed with Love: Christmas 2022

Last Christmas in 2022, we were able to give 335 food hampers, and 648 gifts to families and individuals in need in 16 places around the state. These recipients were nominated to us by Presbyterian churches and groups. Meanwhile, other churches and individuals were working hard to collect the food and gift items needed, or contributing funds to help us acquire the rest. We put the call out for volunteers to help put it all together and those who could help deliver the final products. Packing week was a wonderful time of fun, mutual encouragement and hard work – people dropped in to lend a hand, meeting other volunteers from different churches. It wasn’t long before churches received or pick up their hampers and gifts to then pass on to people they knew who were doing it tough in their local community.

So many people played a part in making Packed with Love happen – whether it was through collecting canned soup, lending us a storeroom for a few weeks, driving a carload of goods across the city or donating what they could to help us cover the costs – we couldn’t have done it without you.

Special mentions to these Presbyterian churches and groups for their involvement, big and small:

Abbotsford
Ashfield-Petersham
Blacktown East
Castle Hill
Chester Hill
Clarence Town
Cornerstone (Kogarah, Strathfield)
Epping
Evans Head
GracePoint (huge thanks for hosting us!)
Goulburn
Hope at the Hill
Hurstville
Mosman

Mudgee
Penrith
Pittwater
Randwick
Riverwood
Springwood
Sydney Living Hope Community
Tregear
Wahroonga
Wentworthville
Woonona
Woy Woy
PWA Dorcas Committee
(also to our partners at Sydney Refugee Team)

and to all the individuals who collected goods, volunteered and transported hampers!

The food items come from all over the place - collected by churches over many weeks, or purchased by our team with the funds donated - laid out and ready to be packed.

First step - each box is assembled, taped and labelled - ready to be filled.

Each box has a set contents list that our amazing volunteers follow as their pack each food hamper!

Each gift packed is thoughtfully chosen by a wonderful volunteer. Thank you to everyone who contributed their time to this - it is so appreciated!

Many of the families receiving these gifts would otherwise not be able to give presents to their kids at Christmas.

Volunteers from GracePoint Presbyterian Church and Sydney Living Hope Community Church - amazing effort for the Thursday evening shift, finishing up the last of the hampers a day early!

Collection day - the hampers and gifts ready to be given out!

Our friends from Sydney Refugee Team collected 101 hampers and 191 gifts for their volunteers to give out to the refugee families they visit around Sydney.

Volunteer delivering hampers and gifts to Tregear Presbyterian Preschool.

Packing away the remaining gift items, ready for next year!

Thanks to Penshurst Presbyterian Church for being a collection point!

Volunteer from Riverwood Presbyterian Church dropping off hampers at Winmalee to be collected and taken back to Mudgee. Thanks Springwood-Winmalee Presbyterian Church!

Join us next time - email us at partnerministries@jerichoroad.org.au to let us know that you'd be keen to get involved in Packed with Love in future.

Get involved in Packed with Love: Christmas 2023

We are so excited for Packed with Love in 2023. There are three main ways you can get involved:
(1) Nominating Recipients, (2) Contributing to Hampers, and (3) Volunteering Your Help

If this sounds like something you or your church would like to get involved with in some way, find out more here: