Our church is participating in the Daily Bread Soup Kitchen backpack project, as we have done for the last few years.
The Soup Kitchen celebrates the holidays by giving filled backpacks to the men
and women who are guests at lunch. This year, they will not be giving
backpacks to children, since the Champaign-Urbana community is very generous to
children at Christmastime through such projects as Shop with a Cop, Salvation
Army Toy Store, toy drives, etc. However, the men and women who attend the Soup
Kitchen daily are rarely remembered. For many, these backpacks will be their
only presents.
Backpacks should be stuffed with hats,
gloves, scarves, socks, thermal underwear, sweatshirts or pants, and toiletries
such as deodorant, hand lotion for hands chapped by the cold, toothpaste,
toothbrushes, shampoo, and shaving cream. Other appreciated items include hand
warmers, cough drops, books, decks of cards, small fleece blankets, candy, gum,
and food items. We are asking that backpacks and included items be new. All
backpacks should be labelled with the gender and size of recipient (from S to
XXXL). We found last year that most of our guests requested at least a size large,
and many preferred XL, or XXL.
We will collect backpacks at the church
on Sundays, December 6 and 13. When
dropping off a pack, please sign your name to the list at the Social Action
table so that your gift can be acknowledged. Tax forms will also be available.
Backpacks will be given away at the
Daily Bread Soup Kitchen on Friday, December 18 beginning at
10:00 a.m.
If you have questions about this
project, please contact Sandy Hannum at smhannum@gmail.com.
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