We will bless our Mitten Tree on Sunday, December 1, the first Sunday of Advent.
This year, our Mitten Tree will have two components: a Holiday Sponsorship program AND a winter weather program to ensure all Hillside students are able to play outdoors during winter months.
Holiday Sponsorship Program: Help Hillside families celebrate the holidays with gifts for their children through our Hillside Holiday Sponsorship program. The Mitten Tree will include paper “ornaments” with wish lists for children from five Hillside families. All donations will be dropped off at church by December 15th so families can pick up their items before the holiday break.
Children in our five Hillside families range from ages 4 to 16 years old and are looking for gifts like slime, coloring books and crayons, action figures, and clothing. Each “ornament” has information about the child (age, grade, gender) and their wish list. For clothing ornaments, the tags also include information about sizing and their interests, such as “likes the Huskers” or “Favorite color: Red” to make shopping easy and fun!
While this is by no means required, if you are able to wrap your gifts, this will save Hillside staff time during a busy season.
Winter Weather Drive: Did you know that elementary school students need winter boots and snow pants to play on school playgrounds during recess when there is snow on the ground? Sadly, there are Hillside students who feel excluded and marginalized during recess because of the costs of new snow pants and snow boots.
We are accepting donations for snow boots ranging from Little Kids Size 10 to Adult Size 10 and snow pants from Kids Small to Adult Small for the older elementary students. These donations can be placed under the mitten tree.
You may also make a monetary contribution to the Mitten Tree and we will do the shopping for you! Just put “Mitten Tree” in the memo line of your check or in the comment line of your electronic donation.
