Pearce Church Thanksgiving Basket Ministry—2015

There are a number of opportunities to get involved with our annual Thanksgiving Basket ministry starting now, continuing over the next few weeks, and concluding with the delivery of baskets a few days prior to Thanksgiving.

Getting Involved

Copy Paper Boxes: We still need around 800copypaper boxes to make the deliveries. You can collect and bring boxes to church throughout October, up toNovember 21. Leave them at the food collection table in the atrium or in the balcony of Parmerter.

Make Maps: To help drivers with deliveries, a map is provided for each house location. A sign-up sheet for making maps will be available—look for that in late October/early November.

Donate Food: We expectto provide 1,000families (more than 35,000 individuals) with Thanksgiving Baskets that contain a turkey and 15 or so additional food items. Food collection will begin on Sunday, October 4, and run through Saturday, November 21. Donations can be separate food items or a complete “adopt-a-box” of food items. Last year, we had 175-180 Adopt-a-boxes. This year, our goal is to have more than 200—let’s aim for 250. Details on food donations are below.

Help Set-up and Organize Food: Friday afternoon, November 20, starting around 10am, until 6pm.

Help Pack Boxes: We will fill the boxes with food on Saturday morning, November 21, starting at 9am, in the Pearce Family Life Center.

Deliver Boxes: Sign-up sheets will be available in the Pearce atrium. It generally takes about one hour to 90minutes to deliver eight-ten boxes, including the time to drive into the city from Pearce Church. A driver’s instruction sheet will be available in the Pearce Family Life Centeron Saturday, November21, or before upon request.Boxes for delivery may be picked up at the following times:

Saturday, November 21: 10am-4pm

Sunday, November 22: noon-4pm

Monday, November 23: 9am-4pm

Tuesday, November 24: 9am-4pm

Last year, we delivered over 600 boxes on Saturday, the first day of this ministry. This year, our goal is to deliver between 750-800. That means we need 75-100 drivers to deliver.

Prayer: Pray this ministry will meet both physical and spiritual needs of families. Pray this provides the “salt and light” Jesus talked about in the Sermon on the Mount. Pray for sufficient food to meet all the needs and for the safety of all volunteers.

Food Collection

Food donations will be collected from Sunday, October 4-Saturday, November 21. During this time, you can leave food at the designated area in the atrium.

You can also donate food by “adopting” a box and bringing the box to church, complete with the following items:

1 can of soup / 1 can of applesauce / 1 box of macaroni & cheese
1 can of green beans / 1 can of cranberry sauce / 1 box of pancake mix or breakfast cereal
1 can of corn / 1 box of spaghetti / 1 box of Jell-o gelatin
1 additional can of any vegetable / 1 jar of spaghetti sauce / 1 dessert (cake or brownie mix)
2 cans of fruit / 1 box of instant potatoes / 1 peanut butter/jelly or 2 cans of tuna
1 can of yams / 1 box of stuffing

Pearce Small Groups might encourage group members to “adopt” a box or two. There will be a sign-up sheet to enable us to track “adoptions,” along with instructions on returning the full box to church. Look for the sign-up and instruction sheet at the lobby Thanksgiving table or at the atrium Welcome Kiosk starting October 4.

Rochester Family Mission, Foodlink, and others will also be collecting and/or donating food for this ministry. In addition to the food list above, we need frozen turkeys.

Community Involvement

Individuals, groups, businesses, community organizations, neighborhoods, or churches can:

  • Contribute food—this can be individual items or a full “Adopt-a-Box”
  • Contribute boxes
  • Sign up to help deliver boxes

Family Names

This year, we expect to partner again with Rochester Family Mission, Heart & Soul Church, Lifetime Assistance, and other Rochester city churches to identify families to receive Thanksgiving Baskets.

Also, the Pearce pastoral staff or members of the Pearce congregation who know about a family, or individual, in need can submit family names. Submit names to the church office.