On Saturday, December 5, parents from right here in Brandon will walk into the Life Center gym and do their Christmas shopping.
They'll move down tables of new toys, pick out what their own kids would actually like, and hand it to a volunteer who wraps it for them. Then they'll carry it out to the car. And on Christmas morning, a child in Brandon opens a present from Mom and Dad.
That design is deliberate. Every parent wants to choose something for their own child and put it under the tree themselves, and the Gift Exchange is built so our neighbors get to do exactly that.
Our job is to stock the shelves.
What We're Collecting
New Hope has elementary — kindergarten through fifth grade, roughly ages 5 to 10. Any toy is welcome.
Bring it new and unwrapped. The wrapping happens at the event, by volunteers, so no parent has to do it in a hurry at midnight.
Drop gifts off in the Social Hall on a Sunday, or at the Life Center Monday through Thursday during office hours — any time between now and Sunday, November 29.
Prefer to shop online? We've put together an Amazon wish list so you can send a gift straight to the church. Shop the New Hope wish list
Six Brandon churches split the age groups between them, so babies, preschoolers, middle schoolers and high schoolers are all covered by our partners. Elementary is ours.
If You Know a Family Who Should Be Here
This is the ask that's easiest to skip, and it matters every bit as much as the toys.
If there's a family in your life who would be blessed by this — a neighbor, someone you work with, a family from your kids' school — tell us. Every family who comes has to be registered ahead of time, so a name passed along in October is worth far more than one passed along in December.
Contact Pastor Vicki at vicki@findnewhope.com or AJ Rodriguez at aj@findnewhope.com.
How You Can Serve
There's a job here for almost anyone. Volunteers help families shop, wrap gifts, watch little ones in childcare, keep the hospitality table going, and organize the gift tables — that last one is a good fit for our students. Volunteers need to be 16 or older.
And then there's the prayer team.
When a family finishes shopping, someone walks them out to the car, helps them load up, hands them a blessing bag, and prays with them right there in the parking lot. It's the last thing that happens all morning, and it's the part people remember.
Last year a small handful of people did that for the entire day. This year we're running it in shifts, so more of us get to be part of it and nobody carries it alone.
To serve, contact AJ at aj@findnewhope.com.
Saturday, December 5
Shopping opens at 9:00 AM in the Life Center gym.
Between now and then, the shelves need filling. One toy, dropped off on a Sunday, ends up in a cart, then in a parent's hands, then under a tree.