More isn’t always better, especially if it is more people in need.
But Birmingham Baptist Association (BBA) is looking at the record 2,000 requests for assistance from its Season of Our Savior project this year as a good thing — more people to help.
In the two decades since BBA churches began donating Christmas stockings for needy children, tens of thousands of gifts have been distributed to dozens of area service organizations.
With the hard economic times, the organizations are feeling overwhelmed, said Linda Pair, BBA’s director of church and community missions. “And we’re so glad we’ll be able to help them.”
Each group has developed its own tradition for distributing the stockings, which are filled with items like nuts, candy, coloring books, crayons and small toys.
At Firehouse Shelter in Birmingham, some stockings are passed out to children who visit the soup kitchen on Christmas Eve or Day. The others are given to men at the shelter so they can have gifts for their children and grandchildren.
“The guys feel like they’re part of their kids’ lives that way,” said Steve Freeman, the shelter’s executive director. “It gives them such a sense of value and worth that can’t be accomplished any other way. They’d never be able to give those gifts on their own.”
According to Pair, all the groups that receive gifts from Season of Our Savior have similarly glowing reviews and BBA often gets thank-you notes in the weeks following Christmas.
“[The people] are all so appreciative and grateful,” said Pair, who has been working with the project for about 15 years. “For many of them, this is all the Christmas they’ll have.”
For Tom and Beverly Toone of Lakeside Baptist Church, Birmingham, participating in Season of Our Savior has become such an ingrained part of their lives that they can’t even remember when their involvement began.
“Whenever we’re out in stores, we’re always on the lookout for things we can add to stockings,” Tom Toone said. “This is a year-round thing for us.”
Together with about 75 other members of Lakeside Baptist, the couple help sew stockings, fill them and then drop them off at the BBA office each December.
“I guess that’s what missions is all about: wanting to be involved and then actually helping others,” he said.
In addition to stockings, Season of Our Savior collects cakes — both homemade and store-bought — to be served to people in need through soup kitchens and groups like Meals on Wheels.
Pair said this project is what makes this her favorite time of year.
“We feel like we’re expressing God’s love,” she said. “This is what Jesus would do if He were here.”
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