God at Work in our Community
Small Group, Big Impact at OCC’s Christmas Store
There a good chance that you’ve seen
members of this particular small group
ushering, hanging out with high school
girls in HYACKs, handing you coffee at
Commons Café, serving in Pioneer Girls on
Wednesday or Kids’ Harbor and STARS on
Sunday morning.
In addition to their individual areas of
service, for the last two Christmases, you
also would have bumped into them at
Outreach Community Center’s Christmas
Store. For small group members Susan
and Tom Krisch, Jeff and Annette Holaway,
Jane and Wes Bleed, Rick and Cheryl
Knoedler, Dave and Deb Carlburg and Val
and Clint Gross serving others is part of
doing life together as a small group.
The Christmas Store 2015 report from
College Church’s partner organization
Outreach Community Center lists the
following statistics:
•1,054 children served
•397 families served
•$12,726 total store sales
•355 volunteers=1,388 hours
These are some decent statistics for the
one-day Christmas Store, which was on
December 12, 2015. But as we all know,
statistics don’t tell the real story. It’s really
about people. Behind the numbers are
living and breathing children and families,
all who experienced a fuller Christmas
because of the outreach of the Christmas
Store.
Commented one shopper, “My favorite
thing was the spirit of the staff and
volunteers.”
College Church member Vanessa Roth,
the COO of Outreach Community Center,
recounted this story in her report, “One of
the Shopper Helpers turned in a dollar bill
as a donation. She shared that a shopper
was so grateful for the kindness and
helpfulness she received, she insisted on
tipping her as a way to show her gratitude!
This is a beautiful example of how the
Store’s unique design maintains the dignity
of our parents and grandparents.”
Families register for the Store (at right) and
then enter shopping area staffed by volunteers
including people from College Church (above).
Susan Krisch’s day job is a bilingual ESL
teacher in District 200, and her fluency
in Spanish proved invaluable at the
Christmas Store. As one of the Shoppers’
Helpers, Susan spent time helping
Spanish-speaking parents choose gifts
for their children. Some of these were
parents of her students.
Susan recalled that parents’ faces would
light up when they saw her at the
Christmas Store. From Susan’s perspective
her small group’s one day of serving,
helped her to solidify relationships with
the parents as they see her caring for them
beyond the academics. With Christmas
break over, Susan feels that these parents
are more comfortable approaching her
or calling her about their children’s
experiences at school.
For Deb and Dave Carlburg, serving at
the Christmas Store was a family affair.
Their daughter, Alyssa, and members from
her small group also served. And college
student John Bleed joined his parents Wes
and Jane at the store. Deb pointed out
that the Christmas Store involved other
College Church folks (thank you, Sarah
Bradley) as well. Other Wheaton churches
were at the store as well, making it a true
community experience. “We parked in a
lot near McDonald’s and a bus from Gary
Memorial Church shuttled volunteers to the
Christmas Store,” Deb said.
In a thank-you letter to College Church,
LaTanya Gatewood, director of volunteer
services for Outreach, wrote: “Church
support is vital to the Store and its
success. Information for next year’s store
will be sent out early September. Next
year’s store will be held on Saturday,
December 17, 2016.”
Right after Thanksgiving and into
December, we will again be encouraging
people from College Church to help the
Christmas Store. People may donate gifts,
shop online or bring gifts to the special
Christmas tree display at the Church. This
is something that most all of us could
do. So watch for the Christmas wish lists
and make this a part of your Christmas
celebration.
And if your small group is looking for that
one way to serve, set up a reminder for
December 17. Let’s all pray and plan for a
big impact with the Christmas Store 2016.