Parishes send gifts of washbags and handbags of hope

Friday December 2nd 2016

The Rev Trevor Kelly and Mrs Aurelia Kelly with children and parishioners of a Drummaul Parish Church.

The Rev Trevor Kelly and Mrs Aurelia Kelly with children and parishioners of Drummaul Parish Church and the Handbags of Hope.

The Parishes of Drummaul, Duneane and Ballyscullion this week delivered 104 ‘Handbags of Hope/Washbags for Men’ to the Ballymena Foodbank.

For the four weeks leading up to the First Sunday in Advent parishioners were asked to take an unwanted handbag and fill it with toiletries and everyday essentials. Not wanting to be left out of this project the ladies were soon joined by the men who also suggested filling washbags for men.

On ‘Giving Tuesday,’ celebrated on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving Day (in the US) and the widely recognised shopping events of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, these ‘Handbags of Hope’/Washbags for Men’ were delivered to Ballymena Foodbank to support the Foodbank’s clients at Christmas

Children from the three parishes brought the Handbags of Hope and Washbags for Men to the front of their churches last Sunday, November 27, for a Children’s talk on ‘Acts of Kindness’.

The children helped Mrs Aurelia Kelly, wife of the curate of the parishes, the Rev Trevor Kelly, to cover the handbags in gift wrap to make a supersize present.

Mrs Kelly said: “The children then wrapped a ribbon around the gift to represent God’s love surrounding us in our lives, and finally an enormous gift tag was put on the gift to represent the gift of God’s son to us at Christmas.

“Just before finishing, the wrapping paper was removed to illustrate that it is what is inside the wrapping paper that is important, like in our lives our acts of kindness show others how we demonstrate God’s love to others.”

The ribbon and gift tag were then reapplied to the gift, and this was followed by a prayer thanking each person who donated to this project and for each Foodbank client who would benefit from the parishes’ gifts this Christmas.

The Rev Trevor Kelly and Mrs Aurelia Kelly with children and parishioners from Duneane and Ballyscullion.

The Rev Canon Derek Kerr, Vicar of Drummaul, Duneane and Ballyscullion, makes a Christmas delivery on behalf of the three parishes to Ballymena Foodbank.