Sharing the Harvest

Every year as the holidays approach we in the Church Office receive inquiries from generous souls who would like to do something special for a needy family at Thanksgiving or Christmas. Is there a family for which we could provide a Christmas dinner? Or, is there somebody we can help locally this year? Well, the answer to all of the above is, “Yes, thanks so much for asking!” Here’s one great way you can help.

We work throughout the year with a local Christian relief ministry called Operation Love. In fact, our congregation is a member of the Operation Love Church Alliance—which means we’re actually a stakeholder in the ministry, an owner, united together with about 20 other church families to help our community in Jesus’ name. We fund the ministry and provide volunteers every month.

This year, Operation Love will provide food for in home holiday meals for 200 families in our community (“setting the table” for about 500 people altogether). The food baskets will be prepared for delivery on December 12. Different churches are assuming responsibility for supplying food to complete each basket. We at Madison Park are partnering with the South Meridian Church to cover the meat (ham or turkey, for instance) for each of the 200 families.

Because many of these needy families do not have kitchen access or the ability to roast a turkey or bake a ham, Operation Love has worked with Harvest Markets to provide a “meat certificate” for each basket. Each family will receive a certificate that they can redeem at any nearby Harvest Market, choosing the kind of meat they’d like—and Harvest Market will provide it to them cooked or uncooked, based on the family’s preference. Harvest Market is discounting the cost of the meat. This partnership between the grocer, Operation Love, and our two congregations will greatly enhance the whole effort—and families-in-need will be blessed, in Jesus’ name.

So, this year, think about making a cash gift to Madison Park for “Meat Certificates”—okay, I know it doesn’t sound too glamorous, but it will do the job. (See “Holiday Giving Opportunities” on page 4 of threads to learn how.) Your cash gift will go a lot farther than any food you yourself can buy and donate. As a recognized relief agency, Operation Love has access to quality food supplies of every kind that the ordinary public does not; your cash gift is the most helpful, always, across the board. Your helping hands are needed to help pack the baskets, too, if you’d like some more direct involvement in providing this gift—and you can also help distribute the baskets, if you like. Pastor Keith Stork (and his assistant in the church office, Jackie Corn) can help with more information and details.

And, oh yes, November proceeds from our Holy Grounds ministry in The Commons at Madison Park will also help purchase meat for the food baskets this year—so, as you enjoy a latte or vanilla protein smoothie (one of my favorites) this Sunday, you’ll also be treating someone else to a Christmas dinner.

Thanks for your generous heart, Madison Park, always!