Christmas Gift Mart—An Amazing Idea! (Guest Post by Andrew Brewer)

Andrew Brewer is the ministry coordinator of The Externally Focused Network (EFN). Through EFN, Andrew is able to live out his passion of helping churches become the best churches for their communities, not just the best ones in their communities. He currently lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas where he and his wife are expecting their first son, Micah, in February. You can learn more about EFN by visiting their web site. Also, be sure to click here and sign up to receive "The Best Externally Focused Ideas of 2011."

Christmas Gift Mart—An Amazing Idea!

What’s the Problem?
     A majority of the students in the Aurora, Illinois school district are living in extreme poverty. As a result, many of the parents are unable to get their children gifts for Christmas, leaving the parents feeling incapable and demoralized. After all, what loving parent doesn’t want to give their child a good Christmas present?

What’s a Solution?
     Since 2003, Community Christian Church of Naperville, Illinois, has sponsored a Christmas Gift Mart for low-income families within several local schools.  Every year, in preparation for the event, new, unwrapped toys are collected from church attendees, local businesses, schools, and other organizations in the community. These gifts are then sold to parents for the reduced price of $2.00 in order to give them the joy and dignity of choosing Christmas gifts for their children, rather than just receiving a handout.

     The Christmas Gift Mart also provides free gift-wrapping, raffles off fully decorated Christmas trees, and entertains children so parents can shop undistracted.  All proceeds received from the sales go back to the partner schools in order fund school-improvement initiatives, giving parents the chance to enhance their children’s education.
     The first year that Community Christian hosted this event it was at one school, Brady Elementary. They collected over 1,200 toys, had 125 volunteers, and raised $820 for the school.  This past year, in 2010, the event was hosted at two different schools in partnership with other churches and local organizations. They collected over 10,000 toys, had 1100 volunteers, and raised $11,300 for the schools.

Want to do something like this?
     Community Christian Church has made it easy for other churches to replicate the Christmas Gift Mart. The first step is for your church to identify a partner school in an under-resourced community.  Ultimately, we hope that the Mart would be just one of many ways that your church serves the school throughout the year, but it is often a good first event to begin building a relationship with teachers and staff.  As you next step, we recommend downloading a manual that Community Christian has produced for any church interested in doing such an event. They have done a great job outlining how the Gift Mart works and what you need to know to pull off one in your own community. To begin downloading this manual for free, please click here.

Visit the Community Christian Church Web site, click here.