The Christ Community Chapel Thanksgiving basket initiative surpassed its goal of having members donate 700 baskets of food to the needy this year. The effort, which had a goal of 40 baskets in its original year, is geared toward providing enough food in one basket to serve 10 people a substantial Thanksgiving dinner. On that basis, CCC had the ambitious goal in 2012 of feeding roughly 7,000 people in need in the name of our Savior. With each basket containing approximately $40.00-$50 worth of food, CCC members donated in excess of $28,000, showing an expression of God’s love to the less fortunate. By Sunday, November 11th, church members had already passed the goal of donating 700 baskets. Amazingly, the final count of baskets donated was 949!
On Monday, November 19th, basket collection from CCC members, and redistribution to the needy through the church’s local outreach partners took place. An energetic army of 50 volunteers, which consisted primarily of youth from the church, but also included folks of all ages, set about moving baskets from donors to staging locations for pickup by Local Outreach ministry partners. Volunteers also organized and packed contents into the baskets (actually, the containers were large storage tubs) for delivery. In line with CCC’s desire to “lead with the Gospel”, each basket contained a New Testament.
While the major focus was on providing for neighbors through our Local Outreach ministry partners, over 100 baskets were also shipped to the East Coast. Additionally, 171 frozen turkeys were designated to be shipped to families in New Jersey suffering from the impact of super storm Sandy.
Members of our pastoral staff, including Joe Coffey and Mark Lile, watched in wonder as volunteers handled the logistical challenges of organizing, packing and moving the church’s tidal wave of donated food to neighbors in need. Others, sensing a special move of Christ’s hands and feet, snapped pictures of the work in progress.
Once again, God’s people at CCC have proven to be ordinary people engaged in an extraordinary work of God. If you were part of this move of cheerful, copious generosity, thanks for your kingdom-work! If you missed this opportunity, please prayerfully be on the alert for opportunities for CCC members to be a blessing for others, through upcoming initiatives like “You’ve been gifted”.
The Lord loves a cheerful giver. And it is great to see the cheerful generosity of the Lord’s family in action at the Thanksgiving basket distribution. To God be the glory!
For more information on Christ Community Chapel’s upcoming movements to impact our neighbors with God’s love, please contact:
Barbara Ammirati @ barbara.ammirati@ccchapel.com
Michael Ammirati @ michael.ammirati@ccchapel.com
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