Parish church members donate gifts to Eastern European families
MEMBERS of Townhill and Kingseat Parish Church and the local community have collected 101 shoeboxes worth of gifts to donate to people in Eastern Europe.
The appeal is designed to make sure those who are in less fortunate circumstances wake up to gifts on Christmas
David Henderson, joint session clerk at the church, said: “We at Townhill and Kingseat Church have participated in the Blythswood Care Shoebox Appeal for a number of years, supporting the work of the project to help vulnerable families across Eastern Europe.
“The generosity shown has been maintained at a high level - over 100 filled shoeboxes were collected by the Blythswood Care team at the end of the October for delivery before Christmas.”
Mr Henderson said donations were received not only from those members of the churches, but from the local community
“It’s been a chance for us to work together with our friends at St Andrew’s Erskine Church, in advance of our two congregations entering into a union sometime next year,” he added.
“Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the success of this venture.”
Local councillors Auxi Barrera and Naz Anis-Miah of Dunfermline North and South respectively each took part and donated to the campaign, managing to fill five shoeboxes.
Cllr Barrera said: “We understand that it is very important to help our local community, as we did early this year by making a donation to the local foodbank, but unfortunately, there are many broken families due to wars in other countries and they also need help.”
Cllr Anis-Miah added: “As we get closer to Christmas, a lot of families will be getting ready to celebrate but many others will be under pressure with the cost of living crisis affecting communities.
“It is important we help our children get through the winter and have a good Christmas, but we also have to think about those families abroad this time of the year.”