The pantry doesn't get a lot of attention this time of year. Normally, the big push for pantry donations happens in November as we prepare to give out Thanksgiving dinners. It is true that we give out more food in November and December than we do in any 4 month period during the rest of the year! However, the pantry is the ministry spotlight for the month of April because we don't want you to forget about it. So, for this post I have pulled up some pictures from Thanksgiving 2011 and will be inserting some facts about the pantry.

In November 2011 you the members of the Mesa church of Christ:

• Donated $1916.00 in cash and hundreds of individual food items
• Distributed 108 full Thanksgiving meals including a turkey
• Distributed 20 additional bags without a turkey
• Each meal cost us $13.08 (full retail value is $40)
• Cooked and served a hot breakfast for over 200 people
• Donated hundreds of clothing items and toys

Every other month our pantry distributes around 40 bags of food along with clothes and other necessities. One of the little known facts about the pantry is that we are here to help members of our own congregation first. We tend to focus on the community service portion of the pantry but we also take care of the body of Christ who may be in need first. That means that not only are we making a difference in the lives of the people in our community, but we are also taking care of each other.

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. Galatians 6:10

We have a great tradition here at Mesa. Every year we host a huge (and by huge I mean over 350 people from the neighborhood joined us) Christmas party for the neighborhood children. There is a different theme and activities each year. However, one thing is always the same: Fun!

This year we had lots and lots of cookies and other homemade goodies to eat. We also played games such as the cupcake game and Christmas bingo. There were all kinds of crafts to participate in. The overall favorite of the day had to be the gingerbread house craft. There are certainly a lot of talented children in our neighborhood as you can see from all the amazing creations.

If you weren't able to make it out this year please enjoy the pictures below and be sure to join us next year!

4Sixteen loves Thanksgiving! In fact we love it so much that we couldn’t wait for November to roll around. So, we did what 4Sixteen loves to do, we changed the rules! Thanksgiving is now in June too.

It was pretty amazing. We had two fried turkeys, stuffing, and all of the normal Thanksgiving sides. The best part though was the fellowship. Check out the pictures below and see what you missed. If you haven’t joined 4Sixteen yet what are you waiting for?