Thanksgiving Baskets

For many years*, Avery has provided all the fixings for a Thanksgiving meal to local families experiencing food insecurity.  Families sign up through Scott's Run Settlement House, a local United Methodist mission organization, and our congregation is given the name and number of people in 25 households.  The Sunday before Thanksgiving we purchase the food in bulk, bring it to the church building, stack it all over the hallways and entry way, and get together to pack it.  

We love this ministry because all ages in our church participate! A youth or adult is in charge of packing the bags for a household.  Kiddos are paired up with the youth or adult, serving as their runners to get the right number of each item for the number of people in that household.  You'll hear "Yams!" called out, and then all the kids go get yams and bring it back to their spot, which they do for each item in the meal. We all join together in a simple soup meal as we pray for the folks who receive the food.  

The Monday before Thanksgiving the families come to the church building and drink some coffee or hot cocoa with a few of our members while other members load into their car a laundry basket and bags full of perishable and non-perishable items. 

Our Thanksgiving Basket collection is now on! It costs around $2500 to provide for the families.  We'd love for you to come pack with us or donate toward the cost of the food. Go to our Donate page to help.

The packing date will be Sunday, November 21, 2021 around 11 am. We'll pack indoors, masked and distanced. 

*The pictures above were taken before the pandemic.