St Francis of Assisi Parish Derwood, MD

 What is an Alternative Christmas Gift? ◦ You make a donation to a charity in lieu of giving someone a “store-bought” gift ◦ That donation represents a gift that helps our brothers and sisters in need locally and globally  A great example of an Alternative Christmas Gift is Heifer International – where you “buy” a flock of chicks for $20 for a family in a developing world country  You get a card to give saying that you bought chicks  The family gets the chicks and later on, eggs to sell or trade for income

 Why Start an Alternative Christmas Gift Program? ◦ To provide a way to reduce or replace the secular, commercial celebration of Christmas with a simpler, faith-based celebration ◦ To raise money for local and global charities

 How does it Work? ◦ Gift cards representing services/items provided by participating charities are purchased in lieu of buying a “store-bought” gift ◦ Gift cards can be purchased through  Direct Card Sales after Masses (Set up a table in your Gathering Space. Parishioners buy the cards and take them home)  Catalog Orders (Catalog contains a list of available gifts charities. Parishioners order the cards and card orders are filled and mailed back to them)

 Get Everyone On Board ◦ Present the idea to have an Alternative Christmas Sale to your Social Concerns Committee ◦ Get your Pastor’s Approval  Recruit Volunteers ◦ Place a notice in the bulletin seeking volunteers to plan, organize, and conduct the Alternative Christmas Sale

 Plan the Sale ◦ Schedule a meeting with the Volunteers  Decide on what charities to support  Set date(s) for the Sale  Set a location for the Sale  Get your Pastor’s OK for the Sale Dates & Location  Contact Your Charities ◦ Let them know you’re planning an Alternative Christmas Sale ◦ Ask if they would supply gift cards and envelopes (50 is probably a good starting number

 Communications ◦ Prepare a Flyer announcing the Sale to be placed in your bulletin ◦ Prepare bulletin “blurbs” for the weeks leading up to the sale ◦ Prepare talking points and get permission to speak about Alternative Christmas and announce the sale at each of the Masses ◦ Work with your Parish admin staff to get the Flyer and the bulletin blurbs posted in the bulletin

 Get the Word Out ◦ 1 st or 2 nd Week in November – Bulletin Blurb describing Alternative Christmas and announcing the Sale ◦ 4 th Week in November – Flyer appears in bulletin ◦ 1 st Sunday in Advent – Catalog appears in bulletin ◦ Speak at Masses or ask the Priest to read as part of the announcements at Mass

 Conduct the Sale (December)  Pre-Sale Activities ◦ Create a Display for the Sales Table ◦ Set up the Sales Table ◦ Line up volunteers to staff the table after all the Masses  Conduct the Sale  Tally results by Charities  Send Checks to Charities  Prepare bulletin “blurb” to announce results of Alternative Christmas, thank participants and volunteers

 Take one of our Quick Guides with you  Contact us: ◦ Charles McCarthy, Social Concerns Director  (301) / ◦ Alternative Christmas Program Coordinators  Pat O’Connor (301) /  Carol Lindsey ( 240) /