St. Maximilian and the Gifts From the ‘Giving Tree’

 

POCONO PINES—The call went out at all masses in early November that St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish would again participate in the “Giving Tree” gift program annually sponsored by the Top of the Mountain Ecumenical Council (TOMEC) headquartered at the Five Loaf House in Pocono Pines. And St. Maximilian’s parishioners answered.

A “Giving Tree” was set up in the church’s narthex to attract the attention of worshipers attending the three weekend masses. Instead of traditional tree decorations, 85 index cards with a child’s first name, age (17 or younger), type of clothing and size, gender, and tracking number were tied with ribbon to the tree’s branches.

By the Sunday, Dec. 1 deadline, all 85 cards had been replaced with more than 85 gifts wrapped in a blaze of color strewn at the foot of the tree and around the narthex. The gifts, each tagged with one of those 85 index cards, were delivered by the parish’s “Giving Tree” Coordinator Dorota Nowak to the Five Loaf House on Tuesday morning, Dec. 3. The gifts were part of TOMEC’s six-congregation effort to reach 263 children in 115 families in Tobyhanna Township and surrounding communities.

“Each congregation sets its own quota,” explained Kim Bray, “Giving Tree” coordinator at TOMEC, who was busy checking in the gifts from St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish. “St. Max does twice as much as any of the congregations,” Bray added.

“‘Giving Tree’ is a great opportunity for the parish to get together for a community outreach especially at this time of year,” said Juli Reese, parish office manager at St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish. “It gets our families, children, grandparents and people who don’t have children involved in the spirit of giving.”

“It’s very important that parishioners are aware that their gifts are not going to a business but rather directly to kids,” added Nowak.

She further explained that the “Giving Tree” is just what it is. “It is an ideal way to give a child a gift and we are thrilled to help our community along with the churches in TOMEC at a time when giving means so much.”

After all the gifts from the congregations have been dropped off and checked in at Five Loaf House, distribution takes place during Food Pantry days December 9 and 10. The Food Pantry program is run by TOMEC. Tracking numbers on each of the index cards tagged to the gifts make sure that the right family gets the right gift.

“Families in the Food Pantry program register for the “Giving Tree” between August and October and are given their tracking number,” Bray said, “in addition to listing their child’s first name, age, type of clothing and size, and gender.”

Chuck Lawrence, director of the Food Pantry, emphasized an important aspect of “Giving Tree.”

“The names of people giving the gifts are not put on the gifts,” Lawrence said, “so that the kids see that they are receiving the gifts from their parents.”

He added that the total of 263 kids receiving gifts “makes this our highest year in terms of numbers.”

When family members pull into the parking lot at the Five Loaf House on the mornings of Dec. 9 and 10, volunteers will direct them to their food pick up and then to a drive-thru window where they will receive their gift from the “Giving Tree,” “just in time for Christmas,” added Bray. “It’s what Christmas is all about, helping those who need help and spreading the love.”

Just ask the parishioners at St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish.