Gifts that Grow

Do you have family members that seem to have ‘everything’ or friends and relatives who have been spending their ‘pandemic time’ purging and simplifying their lives? What to do at Christmas time? We yearn to connect and acknowledge our love for them with a gift, just as the Magi did in Bethlehem.

Through Gifts that Grow, the Missions Team invites us to give gifts that reflect our hearts’ yearnings to make a difference in the world.

There are three ways to order. Visit the Gifts that Grow table before or after worship, stop by the office, or order online soon. You may pick up your Christmas cards and gift descriptions from the church office during the week, or at the Gifts that Grow table in the Narthex on Sunday mornings before or after worship. You may also opt to have your gift cards mailed to you (add’l shipping charge). 2023 order deadlines will be announced soon.

Click Here to Order Your 2023 Gift!
gifts that grow

DIGDEEP

DIGDEEP is a human rights nonprofit dedicated to the life-changing cause of getting every person in the U.S. access to clean, running water and proper sanitation. Right now – in 2023 – more than 2 million people across the country still lack access to a working tap. Your gift to DIGDEEP helps hundreds of Navajo, Appalachian, and Texas colonias families transform their lives with access to clean, running water. 

Founded in Los Angeles in 2011, DIGDEEP believes access to clean water is a human right. Their community-led projects bring clean, hot and cold running water into American homes. They also invest in research, advocacy, and workforce development to close the Water Gap once and for all. There is hope in the form of water!

International Institute of New England

The International Institute of New England (IINE) is a community-based organization whose mission is to welcome and help naturalize New England’s refugees and immigrants. Your gift to IINE helps refugees and immigrants learn English, access life and work skills coaching, enroll in healthcare, secure jobs, reunite with their families, and gain legal assistance. 

Founded in 1918, IINE is one of the region’s largest and most trusted non-profit social service organizations serving new Americans. Today over 10,000 people from 70+ different countries are served. Over the past three years alone, the number of refugees and immigrants that take part in their family reunification, education, skills training, job placement, and legal services programs offered in Boston and Lowell, Massachusetts, and Manchester, New Hampshire has doubled.

UTEC

UTEC is a nationally recognized agency in Lowell whose mission is to nurture and ignite ambition in gang related or incarcerated youth to trade violence and poverty for social and economic success.  Your gift to UTEC helps illuminate the hidden potential of some of the most disconnected youth in the Merrimack Valley.  

In 1999 UTEC was founded as a result of an organizing movement driven by young people to develop their own teen center in response to gang violence. Wrap-around services include education, job training, social advocacy, and case management support, helping young people to break free from a life of violence and poverty.  

Food Link

Food Link is a community organization whose mission is to create a more equitable food system throughout Greater Boston by rescuing and distributing high-quality, customized food to under-resourced communities and by advocating for systems change. Your gift to Food Link helps protect the environment, reduce food waste, and alleviate hunger for clients who struggle with food insecurity. 

Since 2012, Food Link has been the bridge between distributors and farms that have the capacity to donate fresh surplus food and community organizations that seek nutritious food for people who are in need. Food Link rescues surplus fresh food that would otherwise be wasted and delivers it to community organizations serving people in need throughout Greater Boston.