Temperatures may be in the 90’s, but Christmas for 60 adults and children in need is quickly approaching. For the first time, the Trinity Episcopal Church in Moorestown plans to host its new parish initiative “Christmas in July” on July 25, transporting these individuals to Ocean City for a day of fun in the sun.
The idea for this event stemmed from an awareness that many families descend into more acute, miserable levels of need and poverty during the summer months, while other, more fortunate families get to enjoy their annual beach vacations. No stranger to helping those in need, Trinity seeks to use this event to give struggling families a day of relief from life’s challenges.
“Every year at Christmas time, we adopt families from the surrounding communities. We are very passionate about our outreach efforts and wanted to do something this summer to give these families more than just the help around Christmas time,” said Leslie Mazzacano, who has been the deacon at Trinity Episcopal Church since 2003. “We wanted to give them something special like Christmas but in summer so that they know both the church and God are there for them.”
In her duration working with the church, Mazzacano initially took on the project of adopting families during Christmas time herself. She began providing aid to and adopting four or five families per season and today assists about 12 families in need annually. This generosity now carries over into the summer as the “Christmas in July” event makes its debut.
In justifying the importance of this initiative, Mazzacano references one family that consists of a woman and her two nieces she has taken in due to bad home life situations. These two girls have never been to a beach and haven’t celebrated Christmas in five years. This year, that will change, all thanks to the Trinity Episcopal Church.
“Being able to touch the lives of families like this and show them love is needed, especially with what has been going on in communities with shootings and violence,” Mazzacano said. “Also, it’s important in our community, especially because when school is out; some kids no longer get the meals they would normally receive through their school.”
Dating back to 2007, the church has continued to answer the calls of families and individuals from Moorestown and the surrounding areas that have sought food and basic living supplies. Throughout its efforts, the church has provided ongoing support to many local non-profit organizations including the Cathedral Soup Kitchen, the Christian Caring Center, the Food Bank of South Jersey and Habitat for Humanity.
To provide its desired aid specifically for the Christmas in July event, the church’s committee has set an aggressive fundraising budget of $25,000. These funds will cover three meals for the 60 “Christmas in July” participants, a Christmas basket filled with goodies, round-trip coach bus transportation to Ocean City, gift cards, spending money, beach tags, Gillian’s Wonderland Pier wristbands and access to a hotel room and hotel pool for the day.
Although the event is right around the corner, Trinity is still in need of both additional funds to meet its goal and of volunteers to assist with event preparation on Sunday, July 24. On this day, gift baskets for adults and children will be filled and preparation will begin for the hot breakfast to be served the morning of the event.
Community members interested in making a financial donation, a gift card donation or serving as a volunteer are able to do so by calling (856) 235–0811 or sending an email to [email protected].
