Written by: Nancy Scott, Director of Children & Youth, Financial Administrator
Jingle Jam is Grace Muskogee’s Community Christmas Outreach. Jingle Jam is an interactive play with contests and prizes, singing, bad jokes, and delicious (or maybe not really) tofurkey! After a short Christmas program in the sanctuary, ending with over 130 people waving glow sticks and singing Silent Night, we all transferred to the parish hall where a grand extravaganza awaited. There were hundreds of cookies, cupcakes and other goodies, but just as many toys awaited the children in Santa’s workshop! Seeing the children walk into the room and choose their own gift was joyful. And, if that weren’t enough, there were 9 separate tables, each with a craft so each child could take home his/her own creations, be it a Christmas ornament, decorated pine cones, a beaded candy cane, or a gingerbread house, among many other fun activities. For adults and kids alike, the hot chocolate bar was a favorite; yes, hot chocolate with your choice of cinnamon sticks, chocolate sprinkles, whipped cream, and marshmallows was extremely delicious.
Each family was given a Christmas food basket which consisted of ham and all the makings for Christmas dinner (including a pie for dessert) and a few extra meals.The final tallies were 200 toys and 150 food baskets given away to very happy families. This was our first event like this, Covid had postponed our summer outreach event for 2 years in a row and we were extremely pleased with the participation and results of this event. And our parish hall has never looked more festive!