Churches shift focus to 'Christmas stores' as a more uplifting way to give

Chicago Tribune: Churches shift focus to 'Christmas stores' as a more uplifting way to give

"... Though it's become a tradition for many households and congregations to fulfill a child's wish list for families who can't do it on their own, a growing number of ministries are replacing that charity model with what they believe can be a more uplifting approach. From Rogers Park to Garfield Park, ministries in Chicago have opened pop-up Christmas stores where families can afford to check off their child's list thanks to donated merchandise offered at drastically reduced prices, if not for free.

Though many Christians bemoan the retail industry's hold on the holidays, some ministries have found that enabling parents to put gifts under their own trees, in many cases, restores a sense of dignity that's often lost when families are in need.

"Everybody gets to work together to make something wonderful happen," Williams said as volunteers wrapped Christmas and birthday presents for her youngest daughter last weekend. "It helps me feel good about myself."

The shopping opportunity also pushes patrons to take steps toward improving their lives. At Bethel, a Lutheran ministry in Garfield Park, more than 700 families earned additional currency called Bethel Bucks by attending seminars on parenting, financial management and renters' rights. ..."

Comments

[Cameron]

We've done this for years in Australia. Our denomination collects toys every year---we have a national appeal in partnership with one of the major retailers, plus we benefit from various other smaller appeals and collections. Years ago we'd receive them wrapped and we'd simply trust the label attached by the donor as to what the age and gender of the recipient should be.

This simply doesn't work---the gift may be inappropriate (or in a vanishingly small number of cases, mean. One poor child received a brick once) or the child might even already own that particular item. Siblings might receive wildly different gifts in terms of value and quality.

So we now unwrap the gifts and allow parents to come and choose appropriate gifts for their children. We've done it this way ever since I've been involved with the project (12 years?), and it works very well.

For the same reason, we try to give gift vouchers instead of food in kind as Christmas hampers. This is far less cost effective, but recipients prefer a small voucher to a large, inappropriate basket of food. And the labour saved... priceless!