Outreach Ministries

Mitten Tree & Advent Gift Service

We have a “Mitten Tree” Service every year in December, check calendar for next date. It is often combined with the “Advent Gift” Service.

Mitten Service 2024

What is a Mitten Tree:
Everyone brings to church new mittens, scarves, hats and toques (purchased or hand-made). During children’s time, everyone files forward and the fun process begins to decorate an empty Christmas tree from top to bottom. The church is filled with lots of joy and laughter as everyone looks for that perfect spot to display their mittens.

Advent Gift Service (formerly known as White Gift Service):
The story of White Gift Sunday began in 1903, in Painesville, Ohio, where a woman was troubled by her children arguing over the value of different gifts. She suggested that they, together with other children of the Sunday school who were bringing gifts to church for those in need, should wrap the gifts in white paper. The uniformity of decoration would obscure the gifts’ value. The idea allowed everyone to participate in the joy of giving without regard to economic status. [originally posted on AdventUnwrapped.ca]

Up to 2018 the mittens were boxed up for the Northern Outreach Group to include in our Christmas outreach to First Nations reserves.

2019 The Mitten Tree donations were delivered to the Durham Children’s Aid Society.

2022

March 13th – Yellow Ribbon for the Ukraine

Thanks to everyone who donated items for our “Hampton Helps – Yellow Ribbon for Ukraine” initiative on Sunday, March 13/22. Special thanks to the Hampton Community, and also Bethesda House in Bowmanville.

We are blessed to live in an area that is so generous to give to others in need as you can see from the below photo taken of all that was brought in.

Dec-11th — the Advent Candle of Joy was lit! 

• Thank-you to all who were so generous, it will certainly bring JOY to those receiving your gifts: The Benevolent fund received $880 for a needy family in the village. Merry Christmas!
• The mitten tree recipient was CAREA who serves Durham Region, focusing on health promotion and wellness programs and supporting low income families. We gave 22 hats, 32 pr mittens/ gloves, 10 scarves, 2 knitted vests, a knit Teddy bear, knit baby blanket, flannel baby blanket and a knit baby dress.
• The food donations, along with a large quantity of men’s gifts, were well received by the staff at Cornerstone, in Oshawa.

2023

• The collection for two “Hampton Families” on Nov  26, 2023 was $800.00. Thank you to our church family for supporting this initiative!
• Thank you to everyone for contributing to the Mitten tree. 27 tuques, 3 hats, 1 pr earmuffs, 8 scarves or neck warmers, 11 pairs socks, 2 pairs slippers and 34 pairs mittens or gloves were donated. Your generosity will help CAREA Community Health Care Centre in south Oshawa.
• Also, Cornerstone Comm. Assoc. were once again thrilled, as well as, surprised at the amount of men’s gifts and food our little church so generously donated!!

2024

• Mitten Tree: Socks-7, Scarves-8, Hats-30, Mitts & Gloves-35, Neck Warmers-2, Pneumonia Vest-1. Durham Community Health Center was very appreciative.
• As well everyone was so generous donating $1,335 towards three Hampton families who wouldn’t have had a Merry Christmas. We heard there were tears of joy! Proof of caring for others!
• Men’s Hostel (Cornerstone in Oshawa): Non-perishable food items and men’s gifts were delivered to them.

2025

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Sophie’s Love Box Hearts

We support Sophie’s Super Project by crocheting/knitting “Love Hearts”.

The Super Sophia Project was founded as a family initiative to give back and inspire hope for children and their families who are battling cancer. Love Boxes™ are filled by community members with toys, crafts, clothes, gift cards etc. and are gifted to children in hospitals all across the GTA, Durham, and up North.

To learn more about the Super Sophia Project go to their website here.

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History of our Northern Outreach Ministry

The Northern Outreach which provided knitted goods to Indigenous communities in the Northwest Territories will be ceasing as of November 1st, 2019.

Thank you to Jessie Crowells and Sally Charette who began this ministry and to all who supported or participated in it over the years.

Use to met Wednesday afternoons at 1:00 pm in the Hampton U.C., C.E. Wing (September – July).

Their mission: to knit mitts, scarves, and toques which were shipped to First Nation reserves.

They also collected new clothing donations for distribution with the knitting.

Thanks in part to relationships that they’d formed with people in other communities interested in our outreach they had more boxes of donations coming in than they could send out.

While maintaining our core focus on supporting Indigenous communities they also began sending materials to other groups.  In 2018 they sent…

• hats and mittens to the Cornerstone Community Association of Durham. A shelter that works to provide a place of transition for homeless people to work through crisis, find affordable housing and the support they need to become independent.
• blankets, hats, and baby clothes to the Cornerstone Family Violence Prevention Centre in Cobourg. A short-term women’s shelter that in additionato providing temporary housing, counselling, information and connections to local resources.
• a doll with several handknitted outfits to Calvary Baptist for a young girl with a physical disability.
• hats, mitts, blankets, baby clothes, hygiene kits, etc. to the Backdoor Mission in Oshawa. The Back Door Mission for the Relief of poverty works to help relieve the burdens of poverty and social dislocation within the economically deprived and street population of Oshawa. It began as an outreach of Simcoe Street United Church in 1998. Currently they serve the needs of about 120 people a day.

In 2018 they went to Northwest Territories communities outside of Yellowknife, some accessible only by plane. The communties were: Fort Good Hope, Colville Lake, Delne, Fort Simpson, Gameti, Wekweti, Fort Providence, Behchoko, Ndilo, Dettah, Lutselk’e, Fort Smith, and Hay River.