10/27/2026
Hi everyone! It's Karen from Old South Church. It can't really be time to think about Christmas...but actually, for those folks with children who are having difficulty paying for necessities, it's on their minds already.
The Windsor Giving Tree is a long held Advent tradition, initiated by Jill Lord, a faithful parishioner of St Francis of Assisi Parish in Windsor VT and at one time the Director for Community Health at Mt. Ascutney Hospital. Jill has passed, but her passion for responding to the health and well-being of community members lives on. The Giving Tree Project was her mission to bring a joyful holiday season to local families and neighbors in the Windsor Area Community during December when families most struggled to make ends meet. We are continuing this project through St. Francis of Assisi and Old South Church. Last year we provided 106 children with gifts from a variety of individual patrons, area churches and businesses. Thank you!
The program is open to families who live in the Windsor Area Community, including West Windsor, Weathersfield, Hartland, and Cornish with children up to age 12 who celebrate a variety of Holidays.
Child Gift Request applications are made available to local Community Resource Centers, area Public Schools, and Daycare Centers and by request. Please, this is meant for families in need. Those making tough decisions between buying gifts or paying for necessities, like rent and heat.
Applications are filled out by the parent/guardian and include requests for a child's wishes and needs based on age and size. The applications have a set completion date(11/16) and can be returned, either on paper or electronically.
The intake data for each request is compiled and numbered tags are created.
Each numbered tag then needs a patron. In the spirit of neighbor-helping-neighbor, volunteers work behind the scenes to find generous persons/patrons to purchase gifts. Local Churches, Businesses, and the Community at large are requested to help if they are able to do so. We need you! We ask patrons to keep spending per child at about $75. If you are interested in becoming a patron for a child, please email, call or text. We’ll send you more detailed information, an application and answer any questions that you may have.
[email protected]
or
(802)478-2714 message or text.
This program has been around for many years now.
Let’s keep it going strong!
https://www.oldsouthchurch.com/outreach
