Edna DeFord
This Christmas season our PebbleCreek Community Church, as the coordinator of the Agua Fria Food and Clothing Bank holiday food baskets, has joined together with Agua Fria, other local churches, the Salvation Army, the Arizona Diamondback Foundation and the Kiwanis Club to make 700 families a brighter Christmas. With your help we will have a special event for these families on December 16 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Avondale Middle School. The last four years Palm Valley Church has sponsored Toys and More, where Christmas gifts were donated and receiving parents had the gifts wrapped while the children were being entertained b.olunteers. This year Palm Valley asked Agua Fria Food and Clothing Bank and PebbleCreek Community Church to join in the effort to reach more families and to provide not only toys but also a Christmas dinner basket. The large.enue will enable Agua Fria and PebbleCreek Community Church to serve over 700 families with a Christmas dinner meal. This effort is furthered by St. Peter’s Episcopal Church and Trinity Lutheran Church, who help wit.olunteers and by donating food. The Kiwanis Club will be furnishing a lunch at the December 16 event and hot chocolate will be plentiful as the children enjoy hearing why we celebrate Christmas. The children can make crafts and play games while the parents pick up brightly wrapped toys and a Christmas dinner food basket.
Our PebbleCreek community clubs and groups are the main sources of donations of food and toys for Agua Fria Food and Clothing Bank. Now we have an opportunity to donate more toys through Toys and More at Palm Valley Church (431 N. Litchfield Road, Goodyear, Arizona 85338), plus more food for the dinner baskets and a lot more financial donations for turkeys. A food collection container is in place at our Eagle’s Nest Clubhouse near the Pro Shop. Of course, donations are always accepted when our PebbleCreek Community Church converts our Eagle’s Nest Ballroom into a chapel for services followed by a time of fellowship starting at 9:00 a.m. each Sunday. You can also donate toys and wrapping paper by dropping them off at Pam Wallace’s house, 3660 N. 162nd Avenue (Tuscany side).
Frozen turkeys and larger food donations may be taken directly to Agua Fria Food and Clothing Bank, 405 E. Harrison Avenue, Avondale, Monday through Friday from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. A financial gift of $40 will provide for a dinner basket for one family. We have the opportunity to feed and provide toys this year for 700 families with the help of our Goodyear and Avondale communities. We are asking our PebbleCreek community to dig deep and help us bring smiles to the faces of parents and children alike this year.
To make this December 16 event a success we are also looking for lots o.olunteers to help. If you would like to help with the Toys and More project, please contact Pam Wallace at 623-414-3764. For the Christmas Dinner Food Baskets contact Phylice Walton at 535-7556 or Susan Preston at 535-3124.
A wise person once said, “There is more joy in giving than in receiving.” I think we can all receive a lot of joy in helping out this year and I know there will be many smiles on the faces of those who are blessed with our gifts of food and toys.