The first time I met Brad Bryan I had a question – Why do parents pay for gifts at the Gifts of Love Christmas Store? Before we get to the answer, let me give you a little background.
In 1996, Brad and his wife Carma started City Impact, a ministry to Lincoln’s urban families and neighborhoods. The Gifts of Love Christmas Store is one of City Impact’s most significant programs. At the Gifts of Love Christmas Store, need qualified parents come and shop for Christmas presents for their kids. Gifts are donated or purchased by City Impact and are priced significantly lower than retail prices – 70% off retail on average. Parents may spend as much as $15 per child ($15 gets about $50 in gifts). So….are you asking the same question I was? Why do parents pay for gifts at the Gifts of Love Christmas Store?
In response to that question, Brad told me this story.
The first time we did Gifts of Love, it was only for a few families, and we gave the gifts away. Because there were so few families, we delivered the gifts in person. A few weeks after Christmas, I got a phone call from one of the mothers we helped with Gifts of Love. She said, “My son wants to come live with you because you give him presents.” That stopped me short and made me really evaluate what we were doing with Gifts of Love. We used that conversation to start a dialog with families in the neighborhood. What we learned was that they wanted to choose gifts for their children and have the dignity of paying for those gifts – without paying for the gifts parents didn’t feel like they were really the givers of the gifts. What they needed from City Impact wasn’t a handout – it was a hand up. The Gifts of Love Christmas Store was birthed out of those conversations with the parents City Impact was there to minister to.
I love that story. And I’m excited that this Christmas Southwood will be a part of City Impact’s ministry, offering a hand up to parents in our community to help them have a Christmas with dignity. Starting on Sunday, November 25th, look for the City Impact tags on trees in the narthex and in the education area. Return unwrapped gifts, with their tags, to the collection bins in the narthex by December 16th. And know that your gifts will help parents give Gifts of Love to their children this Christmas. Want to see how the Christmas Store works? Volunteer to help!
You can learn more in person soon! Brad will be at Southwood on December 9th to talk with our Sunday School students about how they can help with the Gifts of Love Kids’ Store this year. Watch for more information on this, and look for Brad in the Café area between services that day to learn more about how you can get involved in Gifts of Love and other City Impact ministries.
Kim
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