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The holidays are fast upon us, and some of my friends have already started wrapping Christmas gifts. (It's true, and you know who you are.)
As we prepare for the busiest time of the year, we can look back and realize this has been a difficult year for many families in our community.
The holidays will be a struggle this year. Even with a deep desire to make it a great season, some families do not have the resources to buy gifts or toys for their own children.
That is why the Christmas Village Toy Store will be a gift to families in need this year. This community-centered toy store was created to support and encourage at-risk, low-income families.
The store began in 2007 as a partnership between Forest Hill Church, Nexus Church and Warehouse 242. It links the Christian church, businesses and the needy in Charlotte.
The Christmas Village organization partners with local churches and businesses to collect new toys for sale to low-income families at greatly reduced prices.
Besides helping providing Christmas for these families, the low-priced sales help fund a college scholarship for an at-risk high school graduate and sponsorship of a summer camp for homeless children.
In its first year, the Christmas Village Toy Store gave $15,000 toward running an after-school program at Nexus Church. Last year the organization collected more than 7,500 toys, with a retail value of more than $110,000. The effort was led by three church partnerships, 575 volunteers and five hourly employees from urban partnership Hoskins Park. More than 650 families shopped, and $20,000 was given toward the scholarship.
The Christmas Village believes that all people, regardless of their financial status, long to give. Parents want the dignity of buying gifts for their children. They believe parents need an opportunity to give, as opposed to watching someone else give to their children. The act of giving empowers a parent with dignity. The children benefit not from a toy given by a stranger, but by a gift given in love by their own family.
The Christmas Village is not for bargain hunters. The customers are there by invitation. The store entrusts partner churches with the task of getting entrance tickets into the hands of the needy in Charlotte. Customers must pay in cash; no credit is accepted.
There is a spending limit of $50 per ticket. The store is at Warehouse 242, 2307 Wilkinson Blvd.
Lake Forest Church will join in this special Christmastime ministry by hosting a toy drive. You can drop off toy donations Friday and next Sunday at Lake Forest Church. Toys and gifts should be new and unwrapped, with the price tag left on the gift (to help with re-pricing the items).
On Nov. 15, volunteers will re-price, organize, pack and store the gifts, delivered to the store in mid-December.
For information on the store or how to get an invitation to shop - or to sign up to volunteer at Lake Forest in November or at the store in December - visit www.ChristmasVillageToyStore.com. For information about Lake Forest Church, visit www.lakeforest.org.
