Every year Avon Grove Library collects stockings for the Avon Grove Christmas Basket program, a community-wide initiative to bring joy to families in need during the holiday season. This year the library collected three times as many stockings as last year, a wonderful reminder of the kind and generous spirit of our community during what has been a difficult year for many.
WEST GROVE — There’s three times the holiday cheer at Avon Grove Library this year—thanks to all the generous donors who filled dozens of Christmas stockings for area children in need.
The stockings were collected as part of the Avon Grove Christmas Basket Program, a community-wide initiative by Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in West Grove to assist needy families. Avon Grove Library participates by giving out empty Christmas stockings. Participants pick a stocking, choose a child’s age range and gender, stuff the stocking with appropriate gifts, then return it to the library.
This year the response was three times as great as in 2019. Patrons donated 93 filled stockings in all, contributing to a happy Christmas for dozens of local children. For the first time the library also collected non-perishable food items to distribute as well.
Once Avon Grove Library announced on Facebook that it would again be collecting stockings this year, word quickly spread via the library’s social media channels. Rooted., a shop that supports over 200 artists by selling their wares, joined in by offering to serve as an alternate drop-off location for stockings. Before long the library bin began to overflow with donations, and the staff soon found themselves surrounded by colorful symbols of Christmas spirit.
The Avon Grove Christmas Basket program served over 395 families this year, many of whom were impacted financially as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. During a year when the news has been anything but cheery, this is a wonderful reminder of the kind and generous spirit that marks the Avon Grove community.
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