Big impact
Here are the yearly donation amounts for the Alternative Christmas Market:
2013 — $11,347.00
2012 — $10,437.00
2011 — $9,962.50
2010 — $12,742.00
2009 — $10,728.00
2008 — $12,906.00
2007 — $8,880.50
2006 — $5,622.50
2005 — $5,219.00
Total: $87,844.50
How to go
What: Covenant Presbyterian Church's 10th annual Alternative Christmas Market
When: 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday
Where: At the church's fellowship hall
More info: Call church at 937-325-2427
A Springfield church is giving community members a different way to celebrate Christmas through its upcoming annual gift market.
Covenant Presbyterian Church’s Alternative Christmas Market is celebrating its 10th anniversary and has raised over $87,000 to date.
Diane Van Auker, the market’s publicity chair, is hoping to reach the $100,000 with this year’s event. The Christmas market hosts 11 different organizations and provides opportunities to contribute to several more.
“Some are global, some of them are local, but the bottom line is I can buy someone in my family a gift that will benefit somebody else, and we’ll all feel really good about it,” she said.
The market, to be held from 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Dec. 7 at the church’s fellowship hall, was started when one of Covenant Presbyterian’s members suggested trying the format, Van Auker said. The member had a son who was a minister in Milwaukee, and his church had a similar program.
“We borrowed it 10 years ago,” she said, “and we just evolved it into our own version. We’ve generated a lot of money for local and global organizations.”
At the market, shoppers can “buy” presents for members of their families, but what they’re really doing is donating to specific organizations in the recipient’s name. The recipient gets a card saying that a donation was made in their name for a specific organization.
One of the local organizations supported through this event is On the Rise, a working farm helping at-risk youth in Clark County. On the Rise program director Deb McCullough said they’ve been involved in the market for a couple years, and it really helps the program.
“We’re a pretty small non-profit here in Springfield, so any dollars we get is really a big help,” McCullough said.
The money On the Rise receives from the market goes into its general fund and is used to support the farm, purchasing supplies or even gas for the van to transport the kids to the farm.
“This is a great way for the community to be able to give and also for people like us to receive gifts,” she said.
Project Woman, an organization working with women who have been assaulted, is another vendor at the market and has been involved since the market was started.
Laura Baxter, Project Woman’s executive director, said it has received thousands of dollars over the years from the market.
“We appreciate the gifts that are given and the way that it works for helping specifically with families and children that come into our shelter or are moving from the shelter into our transitional programming, to get a personalized gift that can help them as they’re trying to become independent,” she said.
She said there are different levels of gifts available, ranging from a comfort toy for kids coming into the shelter to a donation that would help support shelter admission for a family.
“We try to find things that are geared toward the core services that we provide,” Baxter said. “That way, people who are giving the gifts can feel directly connected to the mission.”
For those who cannot attend the market, shopping lists are available at the church office and must be turned back in by Monday, Dec. 22.
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