November Update and Christmas information

Here are a few dates for you to put on your calendar:

• Friday, Nov. 20, there will be a ‘Blanket In” at Kelly Ingram Park in honor of the National Coalition of the Homeless Homeless Day. Members of the Birmingham Coalition of the Homeless will be organizing and participating in the event. 
• November 22. The children will enjoy a special ‘music camp’ with guests after worship. 
• The church office will be closed Nov. 26 and 27 for Thanksgiving. 
• Saturday, Nov. 28 at 9:00, we’ll meet at the church to clean and decorate for Advent. 
• Wednesdays, Dec. 2 and 9, packing Christmas bags at 6:30. 
• Sunday, Dec. 13. We’re working on having a Christmas party for the kids after church on this day. We’ll let you know if it works out. 
• Sunday, Dec. 20. The children will present a special holiday program during worship, and we’ll hand out the Christmas bags to worshippers following the service.

About those Christmas Bags...

We will pack 250 bags for men, 100 for women, and 40 for kids.

Rachael is working on having another church take on the kids’ bags. If she is successful, we only need to collect ‘stuff’ for the adults. Typically we try to have knit hats, gloves, socks, underwear, personal hygiene items, sweatshirts, and candy/snacks. If you can donate, or if you know of a group who is planning to donate, please let us know what items you’ll be collecting so we don’t double up unnecessarily.

We took a vanload of 18 people to Sewannee last week to hear Rev. Michael Battle. Ask someone who went to tell you what the trip meant to them!

We currently have 9 people in Shelter Plus housing with 10 more who have recently been referred. If you have any household goods for people who are setting up a home...linens, dishes, pots and pans, etc...Jo Dobbins has graciously offered to store items until they are needed.

Visits to our Sunday Health Center are growing dramatically. We can use over-the-counter medications, band-aids, and other supplies. Mary Wade says anything you would keep in your medicine cabinet or first aid kit can be of use in our Health Center. (We do not keep prescription meds at the church. Those requiring stronger than OTC meds are given referrals to Cooper Green or Bham Healthcare.) We also need baggies to put the supplies in when we distribute them.

Needs for our children’s program: We need a group or groups to provide lunch on first Sundays. Eight large pizzas or 10 medium pizzas will generally feed our crowd. One church brings hot dogs. The kids enjoy hamburgers too. We always need juice boxes.

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Peace,

Marti