Church Application
In
the Oklahoma Conference of The United Methodist Church, in November and
December,
items will arrive for children and adults who are in need.
They are freely donated and delivered.
What is needed is a system to move these gifts from storage facilities into children’s hands before and after Christmas. This is where the connection of OK UMC churches comes in.
Within UMC congregations are individuals who work daily with children who are poor and needy. Others may associate with clubs, agencies, or other groups that touch the lives of such children. Needy children might live in their neighborhoods or just down the street from the church. One of every four children you see in your Oklahoma community is living in poverty. These children who live in rural areas of our state lead particularly challenging lives as resources and services to assist them are not as easily accessible.
Preparing your church for Project Noel
Local churches are encouraged to begin now planning for their gift distribution. We do not know specifically what we will receive and we do not know exactly when it will arrive! Based on feedback from previous years, it appears that the three most successful distribution models were:
- Putting out all gifts for people to come in and “shop” at no charge
- Putting together “Family Baskets” that included both food items and gifts appropriate for specific family make-up.
- Using the gifts from Project Noël as a source to supplement an Angel Tree.