Alternative Christmas Giving
Make your Alternative Giving gift online.
During this Advent season, the Peacemaking Committee is sponsoring the annual Christmas Alternative Giving project – something we have been doing for over 20 years. Alternative gifts are a non-traditional form of giving Christmas presents that bypasses the consumer frenzy we see at this season. Rather than purchasing a material gift, you make a monetary gift to a worthy charity in honor of or in memory of family and friends. These gifts have symbolic value to the recipient, and they benefit a meaningful cause at the same time. Alternative giving is a creative way to honor your friends and family with eco-friendly, ethically-sourced gifts that make a difference in lives, promote peace and justice, and help to heal our earth. It’s a beautiful way to spread love and hope at Christmas. This year we are offering three choices for Christmas Alternative Giving.
Click above to download a printable card for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
PRESBYTERIAN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (PDA) is the emergency and refugee program of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. Following a disaster, PDA distributes emergency grants to the region, allowing for flexibility to address immediate unmet needs as identified by the presbytery or partner. These may include potable water, food, tools, shelter, medical care, sanitation, hygiene kits, clothing, etc. PDA focuses on the long-term recovery of disaster-impacted communities, specializing in volunteer housing, and offering emotional and spiritual care. Following Hurricane Helene, PDA deployed a National Response Team across multiple states, communicating with all affected presbyteries and National VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster) to share information and coordinate resources. Included in that response is the Holston Presbytery of Upper East Tennessee. When you donate to PDA as part of our Christmas Alternative Giving, 100% of your gift will go to Hurricane Helene relief and recovery in our area.
Click above to download a printable card for Shepherd’s Inn
SHEPHERD'S INN is a place where women and children from domestic violence settings in our community may seek shelter and assistance. This house is more than a place to stay. It is a beginning — for a life of safety and purpose. For those women and their children in our own community who have nowhere to go and no one to whom they can turn — there is The Shepherd’s Inn.
Click above to download a printable card for Boroko Village.
BOROKO PRIMARY SCHOOL is located in a remote area of the Rift Valley province of Kenya. The Marakwet people lead a simple rural life characterized by mixed small-scale farming, growing fruits and vegetables, and keeping livestock. Funds raised previously have been used to provide clean drinking water, purchase a mill to grind maize, purchase school desks and chairs, install a solar panel, and install fencing for a garden at Boroko Primary School. All of this has helped the Boroko Primary School students rank at the top of the region. In the past year, severe storms damaged their water system and caused the loss of many crops in the village. This year’s donations will be used to repair the water system and for the development of a seed bank to assist in food security.
You may participate in in three ways: in person by visiting the Peacemaking Table, online through our church website, or by mail.
In person: At the Peacemaking Table and in the bulletin, you will find donor forms. Fill out the form indicating any or all of the charity choices: Shepherd’s Inn or Boroko Primary School or Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, the amount of your gift, and if you wish to make the gift as a memorial or to honor someone. Make your check payable to First Presbyterian Church, noting the charity or charities on the memo line. Place your donor form and check in the gift box located on the Peacemaking Table, and then pick up gift cards for your recipients.
Online: You can donate directly through the Alternative Giving link found on the church website. There you may choose Shepherd’s Inn or Boroko or Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. You may indicate your honoree or memorial in the Memo box. You will find gift cards online (above image links) for each of these charities which you can download to email or to print and mail to the recipient of your alternative Christmas gift.
Mail: You may also mail your check to the church, noting the name of the charity on the memo line of your check. Include a note if your gift is a memorial or in honor of someone.
We invite you to consider making alternative Christmas gifts in honor or memory of friends and loved ones, and give the Gift of Christmas Hope! And we wish each of you a Christmas season filled with peace, hope, and love!