CHRISTMAS WISHLIST

We are excited to launch this new initiative this year where we get to continue to help make a difference in our community. This year we are committed to six different projects, which we hope will bless our community and bring joy! We hope you will be able to join us, and be able to sign up and help out with one of the projects!

PROJECT 1 - STATIONERY AID

This year we have started a partnership with Stationery Aid. The aim is to be able to help families in our community prepare their children for school by supporting them with affordable stationery packs.
How can you be involved? We are asking for donations of used (in good condition) or new stationery. This can be placed in the red bin on the church deck. Our aim is to make 30 complete stationery packs from this church. We are collecting: pens, pencils and rubbers, calculators and math's equipment, folders, exercise books, pencil cases, diaries, etc.

PROJECT 2 - CHRISTMAS CARDS

For this project we aim to write Christmas cards to the elderly people who live at Moonah Park Retirement Village (located in Mitchelton). We hope this will spark some Christmas joy and make them feel loved! This is a simple project that we believe will have a great impact on the people who live there.
How can you be involved? We are asking for you to come on board by either donating Christmas cards or by helping us write personalized cards for each person. We hope to bless each of the 200 residence with a card.

PROJECT 3 - COMMUNITY CAROLS

This year we are joining both To.The.Streets and the Moreten Bay Regional Council together for a live streamed community carols event. By promoting Street parties for the event we hope to bring the community together and have greater connection to the people who live closest to us. Along with the carols we are inviting streets to decorate their footpaths with Christmas chalk drawings! Photos can be sent in and winners and prizes will be announced at the carols.
How can you be involved? We would love for you to group together with your streets for the carols on the 5th December. You can also get involved by decorating your streets with chalk. We will also need volunteers for the night to help with the facilitation of the carols event!
For more information join the Facebook event!

PROJECT 4 - EMERGANCY RELIEF HAMPERS

This year we hope to bless at least 50 families in our community with emergency relief hampers.
How can you be involved? Each week we will be putting out new and specific items we wish to collect for the hampers. If you would like to contribute simply add one or more of these items to your weekly grocery shop and pop them in the wooden box on the deck. This will help make sure we can monitor each hamper and make sure each hamper gets all the essentials. We hope you will come on board with us!
This weeks list:
-Weetbix (please avoid other cereals) - Tetra (log life milk) - Pasta - Rice 1 kg - Sweet Biscuits - Corn or Rice thins - Jatz or similar crackers - Taco Shells - Taco seasoning

PROJECT 5 - CHRISTMAS LUNCH

For a lot of us Christmas is a happy time where we get to celebrate with our families. However this is not the case for everyone. So this year we would love to put on a Christmas lunch here at Arana for those who may be alone this Christmas. This idea is simply to bless others in our community and to have fun together, enjoying each others company.
How can you get involved? Have a think of some people who you may know who will be alone on Christmas day. Let us know who they are so we can personally invite them to join us.
Also, if this idea excites you and is something you are passionate about, please let us know and we will be in contact with you.

PROJECT 6 - GIFTS OF HOPE

For this project we hope to collect new toys for parents to then gift to their children this Christmas day.
How can you involved? If you are able, why not purchase a gift/toy this Christmas on behalf of parents in our community who are unable buy gifts this Christmas. These gifts will then be passed onto parents for them to wrap and put under their tree. Let's join together to bring joy in families homes this Christmas. You can donate these gifts by placing them under the Christmas tree on the deck!