It’s Beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
We know that it is only November, but for us at HCM, that means it is time to get ready! Working again with our Church Partner and Host, Glory Chapel, our staff has already started recruiting volunteers and collecting gifts for the 7th annual HCM Christmas Store. New to HCM? This special store allows parents the opportunity to buy new gifts for their children at tag sale prices.  HCM then uses the funds to subsidize the cost of sleepover camp in the summer.

Last year, the store was a huge success! We blessed parents and children with the option to shop from over 2,000 gifts in our store! And, we raised over $2,600 for sleepover camp!  We were blown away by the sheer number of gifts as well as the variety and creativity of the items.  We had something for everyone and used any remaining gifts to stock our Noah After School and Camp Noah stores.

Here’s how you can get involved!​​
  • DONATE:  We are looking for NEW, UNwrapped gifts (no toy guns or clothes please) appropriate for children in 1st – 8th grade in the price range of $5- $20. Please click here to complete a quick form so that we can have a better idea of how many gifts to expect. Grab your family, small group, workplace and/or church and collect as a group!
  • DROP OFF:  We have two designated time slots for dropping off the gifts, Sunday, December 2nd from 1:00-3:00 pm and Monday, December 3rd from 3:30-6:30 pm at Glory Chapel (221 Greenfield St).
  • GIVE:  Monetary donations are needed to support the cost of the running and managing the store. 
  • SHARE:  If you know of other families, small groups, or churches who might also like to get involved, feel free to forward this email! ​​
  • VOLUNTEER:                                                                                                                                 
    • SET UP: Help sort and price gifts on Wednesday, Dec 5 from 6:00 - 9:00 pm. ​Volunteer slots full! 
    • STAGE THE STORE: Thursday, Dec 6 from 6:00 - 8:00 pm.  Volunteer slots full!                                                          
    • GREET FAMILIES: Greet families and explain the process, wrap gifts and/or administer surveys during the store hours on Friday, Dec 7 from 6:00 - 9:00 pm and/or Saturday, Dec 8 from 9:00 am - 12:00 pm. Volunteer slots full!     
    • CLEAN UP: Break down the store and bring extra gifts back to our storage space at the Ministry House on Saturday, Dec 8 from 12:00 - 3:00 pm. Volunteer slots full!     ​

      Please contact Danielle 860.246.0132 or daniellea@hartfordcitymission.org with any questions! 
The idea of HCM's Christmas Store comes from Bob Lupton at Focused Community Strategies in Atlanta, GA. Watch the 3 min video clip below to see how your support can help to give the gift of dignity to Noah After School parents through the Noah Christmas Store.