Collecting for Salvation Army and Haxby Food Share
I must admit, I’d really missed doing the shoeboxes this year — I took it as a personal challenge to see how much I could fit into that small space! This year though, with the cost of living crisis, we’ve decided that people might just be stretched in too many ways, so we decided to just concentrate on one giving event this Advent.
We’ve had a relationship with the Salvation Army for many years. They have contacts within the Council who give them an idea about the donations that are needed for families, and they in turn pass the requests on to us.
For the past couple of years we’ve also worked in partnership with Haxby Food Share, based at the Memorial Hall. This year they’re getting hampers together for families and would welcome contributions for those.
We held a Collection Day outside the Haxby & Wigginton Methodist Church on Thursday 1st December. It was a freezing cold day, but we were set up under a waterproof (thankfully!) gazebo ready to receive the donations.
Santa and his elves also made an appearance in the morning, with a sweet treat for any child who popped by !
For The Salvation Army we collected…
New toys, gifts or sweet treats suitable for any age, but they especially need items suitable for ages 8 and above. They tend to be low on items for teenagers and parents.
For the Haxby Food Share we collected…
Gifts for ages 3 and above, including teens and parents
Selection boxes
Chocolate/sweets for adults
Christmas crackers
And by way of food:
Biscuits
Crisps
Nuts
Cheese & biscuits
Mince pies
Christmas puddings
Custard
Yorkshire pudding mix
Gravy mix
Eggs
Tinned veg, especially: peas, carrots, corn, spuds
Cranberry sauce
Juices & squash
(If you’d like to give items to the Haxby Food Share Project, they will be extremely grateful for any donations at any time of year. Please see our blog post about the Project and their work.)
As you can see in this photo from our service at church the following Sunday, our congregation and local community were incredibly generous — thank you to everyone who donated, and to those who helped in any way with the Christmas Collection Day!
Lorraine Jones Family Worker and Local Pastor