December Newsletter
Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine…
- Thanks to Him – you continue to amaze with your giving to Tree of Life.
- Thanks to Him – so far this year, 8 out of 11 months have seen the highest ever giving.
- Thanks to Him – that ensures our 5 Branch outreach Path continues to impact 20,000+ each year.
If you are able to donate in this final month of the year, thank you. Like so many local nonprofits, December is a critical giving month for Tree of Life and our goal is $360,000 to meet our budget.
In the words of one of our partners who you have blessed this year: “I have tears of Joy in my eyes; Thank you so so very much. Merry Christmas to you and yours, you have also made my heart light. Hugs.”
Thanks to you and thanks to Him.
Every blessing this Christmas season…
Paul
Thanksgiving Together
On Thanksgiving Day, community volunteers arrived at St. Peter’s Church in Purcellville to support our annual Thanksgiving Together event. With their invaluable help, we packaged 90 meals to go and served 60 meals in person for those looking for fellowship on this special day. Additionally, 75 meals were delivered to hungry folks at the Gospel Rescue Mission in Winchester when the event in Loudoun came to a close. A grand total of 225 meals were served, consisting of roast turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, sweet potatoes, stuffing and gravy, and, of course, a good diversity of pies.
Thank you to everyone who helped by volunteering, donating food, and supporting Tree of Life!
Special Olympics
Our Still Waters partners had the joy and privilege of participating in the Special Olympics Virginia State Championship games, coached by Joy Lewis. We played 7 games at the weekend event and were UNDEFEATED!!! The championship game was won heartily with a score of 10-1! What an experience this was for our partners, families and athletes, and we were blessed with amazing weather as well!
Feeding Loudoun
At the end of November, we had an amazing visit from a mission team from Providence Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. A group of eight adults, led by Pastor Blake Kendrick, served in our Sterling Region for two days and were able to accomplish all the deliveries we would normally do in a week! Plus, they did a Fill the Truck event at a grocery store, processed all that food, and did a number of helpful odd jobs around the Sterling Center.
On Tuesday evening they shopped for food, prepped, and then served our Community Dinner. The pastor was formerly a professional chef so he prepared a delicious tortilla soup! The dinner food was a hit! Overall, the impact of this group was huge:
- 682 lbs of donated food from the Fill the Truck event at the Ashburn Aldi
- 14 Households received groceries – a total of 53 served.
- 1266.2 total pounds of food delivered.
- 71 meals served at the Community Dinner.
A huge thank you to the team!
‘Tis the Season!
Every year our Christmas for Others ministry blesses so many in Loudoun. This year will be no different! We are hosting three Christmas dinner events across the county for families, providing local seniors with special gift bags, and hosting a party for the women in our transitional housing program.
We would love your help in making this a success! There are SIX WAYS TO GIVE that will help those in need this Christmas feel the love of Christ. Click the link button to donate or help with senior gifts.
We also have a plenty of VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES!
VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT!
We would like to give a huge thank you to Linda Turner, who was a key volunteer at our Thanksgiving Together event last week. Linda lead our kitchen volunteers for the second year in a row, making sure that things went quickly and smoothly as attendees arrived for dinner. She managed to keep everyone on track, made sure every meal served was hot and ready to eat, and then helped clean up and get things back in order for church on Sunday. Even more amazing, she’s already said she’ll be back next year!
Thank you, Linda… your dedication to serving others is such a blessing to the community and to Tree of Life.
Coffee and Christmas
SimplyBe Coffee is excited to celebrate Chrstimas all month long with our non-stop schedule of Chrstimas fun!
EVERY Thursday we’ll be providing FREE gift wrapping – stop by to take a coffee break and check wrapping off your list!
December 4 – 9: Ugly Sweater week – we’ll be giving a free cookie to everyone who wears their favorite Christmas sweater!
December 11 – 16: Find the candy cane… get a candy cane!
December 18 – 23: Come see what our elf is up to and get a free cookie with your coffee purchase!
Don’t miss SANTA on December 18th! He’ll be there at 10am to take pictures and hear what you want for Christmas!
And we’ll have LIVE MUSIC on December 9th AND 16th now too! So much for everyone to enjoy, we’ll hope you’ll stop by and support coffee with a cause!
FINALIST for Best Non-Profit
We are so grateful to the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce for our nomination as Finalist for Non-Profit Organization of the Year, along with Loudoun Coalition on Women and Girls, Legacy Farms and Loudoun Literacy Council. We enjoyed an evening of celebration with our fellow finalist and over 500 small businesses representing Loudoun County. We would like to offer our congratulations to all the winners!
It was a privilege to be recognized in this category, as we have endeavored to live out our mission of serving the poor and needy in the community with the love of Jesus Christ since 2008.
IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS
On the night that Jesus was born, angels flooded the sky and spoke to the shepherds in the field, saying:
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.”
This Christmas you will see people with smiling faces giving presents to each other. Tree of Life likewise gives gifts to those who can’t afford gifts.
These acts of kindness reflect the love of God in their hearts, and it shines forth in the form of a gift.
God’s love shone forth 2000 years ago in the form of a gift to mankind: His Son Jesus. In the angels’ words, we learn that God has sent His Son to show His love for mankind, and through His Son He would forgive our sins. This is the peace He speaks of in this verse.
May the Glory of God shine on you this Christmas, so that your heart reflects the heart of God. Through this love, let your gift shine and reflect the love of God.
May the peace of Jesus rest on you this Christmas. Amen.
Merry Christmas!
Chaplain Wayne Ruckman
