The holiday season is coming up fast and we are preparing for record numbers at the Lilburn Cooperative Ministry. We are expecting approximately 500 households will request holiday services this year. To give you some context, last year we served 290 families and seniors. To meet the demand, we must change the way we administer our holiday Ministries. We are asking for assistance with two programs, a food drive and a toy drive, from those choosing to help us.
We will not be giving gift cards to the grocery stores for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Rather we will be doing bulk meat purchases and distributing special holiday items from our self-selection pantry. Many of our clients only have a hot plate and microwave. We need to adapt the feast to the kitchen that’s available. If you would like to have a food drive for the sides, please send an email to me for the Holiday Food Drive list. (My email is at the end of this blog.)
We will not do a sponsor-a-family or a child approach to Christmas as we have done in years past. Instead, we will be doing a Santa room and allowing clients time to shop for toys with Santa bucks. We ask that you place these toys on your Angel trees instead of the individual children. This will allow us to equitably distribute the donations we collect. You can request the toy list by sending an email to me.
We will not do the Senior gift cards. Throughout the year, we have been increasing the number of Kroger cards we distribute for doctor visits and prescriptions based on most critical need. A client on dialysis and chemo needs much more help than the one who sees a doctor twice a year. We are focusing resources on more equitable distribution. All seniors will receive special holiday items through the pantry. Seniors who have custody of their grandchildren will be included in the children’s distribution.
Clients will be required to apply for assistance this year instead of simply registering. This will involve filling out an application with income information. Only registered clients who have used the pantry in the last quarter of 2025 will be eligible. Any exceptions will be approved by either me or Dan Sharp, Operations Director. Our goal is to make sure the resources go to the people who need the help.
Of course, if you would like to do a cash donation, we will put those funds to good use.
Our goal with these programs is to demonstrate God’s love and abundance to people who have had a rough year. These programs, when they are received by the families most in need, do so much more than spread holiday cheer. They remind people that they matter; that there is a reason to hope; that someone cares.
We thank you for your understanding and your generosity.
-Jackie
Jackie@LilburnCoop.org
