INDIANAPOLIS — A large stuffed lavender bear. Board games such as “Clue” or “Scrabble.” Kits to make friendship bracelets and other crafts.
They were wrapped and placed under Christmas trees this year, bought by parents who shopped a store stocked through donations from a neighborhood ministry and a local church.
Renewal Neighborhood Ministries’ fourth annual Christmas Store opened to its customers Dec. 21, offering some families in the neighborhood surrounding Charles W. Fairbanks School 105 the chance to buy Christmas gifts for their children at a discount.
For several years, Outlook Christian Church in McCordsville and Crossroads Bible Church on 42nd Street in Indianapolis have reached out together to the neighborhood there. That support has taken the form of volunteering at the school, writing notes of encouragement to teachers, and offering a flag football league.
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Out of that partnership, Renewal was born. Volunteers have expanded their efforts to offer an after-school program on Mondays and Tuesdays at the school and tutoring in a house Renewal began renting in the neighborhood as an office and community center. Mike Wilkins, missions and outreach minister at Outlook, said the rental and the annual Christmas store have helped Renewal deepen relationships and trust in the neighborhood.
Chris Ball of Greenfield was one of the elves at Saturday’s store, helping restock tables and pitching in at the gift-wrapping table.
“It was a little chaotic there, but so much fun,” she said. She’s volunteered in various roles each year since the store started.
“It’s just a joyful day to see the parents, and the parents are so grateful for this chance … it’s not a handout, but they get a lot of value for the dollars they spend.”
Renewal invited 120 families to the shopping day. They were identified through the tutoring program, through other Renewal initiatives or by the school. For $5 per child, parents can buy three toys, a board game, a hat, gloves and other gifts they select for that child. The payment is capped for larger families so that no family pays more than $15.
In the beginning, the inventory came from another ministry’s surplus, but last year and this year it came wholly from Renewal-generated donations. Wilkins said it’s promoted throughout the year at Outlook, so donors can hit sales and have the store well-stocked come December.
“People are amazingly generous,” he said, “and some of the gifts are amazingly cool.”
Volunteers sort the gifts by age and category on tables in the Cross Center multi-purpose building behind Crossroads Bible Church. On the day of the store, a personal shopper guides each parent through the store, then chats with them over cookies while volunteers wrap all the gifts the parent chose.
“The one thing we kind of insist on is they fill out the tags themselves,” Wilkins said. “This is you going and buying your Christmas gifts for your kids.
“We just find that it’s such a better experience for people … we’re very much focused on the dignity of the parents and the joy of giving gifts that are coming from you.”
“Joy” is a word Ball uses, too, as she describes volunteering at the store. From the store experience she has been drawn deeper into Renewal’s work, helping weekly at the after-school program on one day and tutoring a first-grader at the Renewal house on another day.
“I could not have imagined four years ago that I would love doing this,” she said. “It’s fun. It fills my heart with joy. To see the progress some of the children have made over the years is wonderful.
“You think you’re doing things for other people, and you end up getting so much joy yourself.”
