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Giving Season in Full Swing at First Congregational Church

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Daniel Lepoutre and mom Jen Lepoutre explain the "Giving Tree" to new members after services.
Daniel Lepoutre and mom Jen Lepoutre explain the “Giving Tree” to new members after services.

It’s the time of year that many members of the First Congregational Church of Greenwich call the “Giving Season” because of the many opportunities to give gifts and support to less fortunate neighbors in the local community and elsewhere.

Two of the church’s best-loved traditions were on display on the First Church campus Nov. 20.

In celebration of “Harvest Sunday,” worshippers brought over 300 grocery bags filled with nonperishable foods to the Meetinghouse for the morning service, and carried them to the altar with their weekly offerings. The groceries were distributed to Neighbor to Neighbor of Greenwich, the Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County, and H.O.M.E. Co-op in Orland, Maine.

Later in the morning, members clustered around two “Giving Trees” in the church hallway outside the Auditorium. The trees were decorated with color-coded paper ornaments, each of which described a specific gift wish of a resident of Pilgrim Towers in Stamford or H.O.M.E. Co-op in Maine. When a church member chose a wish to fulfill, the information was recorded in a binder where the Christian Outreach Committee keeps track of its progress. In early December, the wrapped gifts will be brought to the church, and then distributed to the recipients in Stamford and Orland, Maine.

“We talk a lot about ‘giving’ at this time of year,” said Chris Hartwell, Chair of the Church Council, “but it’s at least as much about ‘giving back.’ In addition to making our neighbors’ holidays a little brighter, these traditions really help us to realize how fortunate we are to be in a position to give.”

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