We love Christmastime around here! Our December calendar stays extra full, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. We kicked things off Dec. 9 with our annual partnership with Hillside Christian Church to put together the Sharing Tree Christmas Store. Hundreds of families were able to come purchase and wrap 2 presents for each of their children for just $5 or 5 cans of food per child. Over 1200 kids were able to get Christmas presents. So many of our Mission 2540 moms, dads, and grandmothers were able to participate and pick out and provide incredible presents for their children. This is always a special day, providing dignity to struggling parents and joy to their children.
We spent the next 2 weeks throwing Christmas parties on all 10 of our properties. We ate 2280 chicken nuggets plus hundreds of bags of chips and cookies. And all 202 kids who attended over the course of those 2 weeks received an awesome goodie bags filled with hats, gloves, toys and candy! We played games, heard the Christmas story, listened to music, and made some great memories. We’re so thankful to those who gave, volunteered their time, and helped us make Christmas special. There’s no better way for us to end our year and get a little rest before doing it all again in 2024 (which will be year 20 for Mission 2540!) Check out the pictures below to see how much fun we had!
Cathy’s Pointe set a record for most ever kids at a Mission 2540 Christmas party with 47. That’s a lot of kids to fit in one room!Ridgecrest is our only location where we can’t ever meet inside. So were’ always thankful when we can hold a Christmas party when it’s over 40 degrees!Don’t worry – the Cypress Creek finished off this nugget tray. We usually try to send home any extra nuggets, but leftovers were hard to come by this year!Lined up and serving themselves food at Greentree. We forgot to get a picture, but Matthew was back from college and dropped in for a surprise visit. The kids were pumped! Mrs. JoDeane brought her Christmas Bingo game to Plum Creek. Obviously it was a huge hit!We always tell the kids to wait until they get home to open their goodie bags. At Amarillo Garden (and everywhere else), they didn’t listen.Playing the Marshmallow Reindeer Game at Spring Terrace, where these boys are always super compeitive.Listening to Mrs. Lia tell the Christmas story at Glenwood. Other than referring to the three wise men as “The Three Muskateers,” these kids know the story of why we celebrate Christmas better than most adults!Several of our High Plains Ranch Middle schoolers practiced for a month to prepare to play us a few Christmas songs while we ate. It was awesome (and loud).Mrs. Lia attended the very first Mission 2540 North Grand Villas Christmas party in way back 2004 when she was an 8th grader and her family lived there. Now she’s the one telling the Christmas story, handing out goodie bags, and keeping those kids in line. The Sharing Tree Christmas store!
