A heartfelt THANK YOU to the numerous members and partners who contributed to the success of ILYA’s Holiday Giving Project this year. So many of you rose to the challenge of supporting 102 young adults aging out of foster care and 27 of their children in both New Castle and Kent Counties.

Many thanks to First U of Wilmington congregation for your contributions of time, items and financial support. Countless members provided gift cards, children’s books, calendars, and greeting cards as well as ordered lunch bags from Amazon. A special thank you to member Doyle Dobbins for once again donating jars of honey for each young adult made by his own bees and to the knitter group at First U who provided hats. A big thanks to Hans Francke for crafting wooden bookmarks. Congregations at Mill Creek and UU of Central Delaware also contributed. A Mill Creek knitter provided children’s hats and UUCD members donated calendars and wrote cards. Pictured here are some of the gifts with our volunteer wrappers. It truly was a team effort and we cannot thank you all enough!

A big KUDOS to the Holiday Giving Project Coordinators Carolyn Gibson and Martha Gessler for leading this effort. Their exceptional organizational skills made assembling and distributing the gift bags run smoothly. No easy task given the increase in numbers since expanding to Kent County.

Just a reminder, we are still accepting financial donations for this program for the remainder of the month. It can be quite lonesome for our young adults who feel separated from family when those around them are with their families during the holidays. There is still time to make a year-end gift that is meaningful to you. Simply write “ILYA Holiday Giving” in the memo line of your check and bring it to the church office.

Again, thank you for your generosity. Happy Holidays from the ILYA team!