BLOUNTVILLE â The library at Central Heights Elementary had been overstuffed with Christmas gift bags the past few days, but with the work of some elves the 82 bags for students in need were moved to the gym on Wednesday for distribution.
The little Sullivan County school east of Kingsport, just off U.S. Highway 11-W, has about 210 students this school year. It has distributed the bags each Christmas season since about 2003, according to interim Principal Greg Harvey and counselor Stacey Gillman, who has been at the school for eight years.
Gillman, dressed in an elf T-shirt, said Celebration Church, Salem United Methodist Church, Steele Creek Baptist Church, the Outdoorsmen, Immanuel Lutheran Church (literally across the road from the school), Luvs Mobile Home and Retrac Quality Motors donated to the program, as well as teachers, staff, parents and others in the community. She said teachers and staff went on shopping trips to buy needed items with monetary donations.
Hays Daily News
Monday’s blustery wind made the 30-degree day feel like a frigid 19 degrees, but Laurie Allen and Amanda Gittinger were delivering a gift of warmth to long-term care residents of Hays,
The two women, members of the Celebration Community Church s quilting ministry, were bringing 140 quilts to the city’s two long-term facilities free gifts for the residents at Christmastime.
The quilts were sewn and donated by the Celebration Community Church’s Prayers and Squares Quilting Ministry.
The group celebrated 10 years of giving away quilts to people in the community earlier this year, right before the pandemic started in March.
Peter Youngren, founding pastor of Toronto International Celebration Church, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in a photo uploaded to Facebook on Nov. 2, 2020. | Facebook/Celebration Church Toronto
A Canadian church has filed suit against a provincial government over a rule that prohibits gatherings of more than 10 people, arguing that it interferes with their religious freedom.
Toronto International Celebration Church announced the lawsuit in a press release, having filed the complaint on Tuesday in the Superior Court of Justice in Toronto.
At issue was a lockdown rule, implemented in November, that bans churches from having more than 10 people in attendance at worship services, weddings and funerals, even while secular places like big box stores and film studios can have 50% capacity inside their facilities.