The ELCA Good Gifts program provides more than 50 different gift-giving options that fight hunger and transform lives. The Good Gifts catalog has a wide array of gift options that can make a difference in the world, such as God’s Global Barnyard (pigs, chicks, fish farm, bees); Water programs (irrigation canal, water filters, wells); Agriculture programs (community vegetable gardens, farming tools); Women & Children (start a small business, send a girl to school, school supplies); Health Care (stock a clinic, vaccinations, mosquito nets); Grow the Church (bricks to build, seminary education, Bibles); Help at Home (stock a backpack with food, warm meals from a soup kitchen, supplies for disaster survivors).
Each year, St. Mark’s participates in several ELCA Good Gifts projects. This year, for example, our Faith in Daily Life students used “Barn Banks,” to raise money to purchase baby chicks through Good Gifts. Leading up to Mother’s Day, our Outreach Team raised donations for Good Gifts vaccinations for children in some of the world’s poorest countries. These Good Gift initiatives are embraced by the whole St. Mark’s congregation, and young and old come together to take action that impacts lives around the world.