During the “most wonderful time of the year” last month, Creflo Dollar Ministries, through its Global Missions and Outreach teams, was able to bring a little more cheer to our College Park community. COVID-19 has moved all of us far from normalcy, and has pushed many families into unexpected hard times through the loss of jobs, homes, and family members. Ecclesiastes 4:10, NIV, says, “If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.” The World Changers Nation understands that we are all in this together, and we wanted to do our share to help our neighbors up. This year, our Outreach team and volunteers gathered to make this holiday one to remember for the children and families around our main campus.

“We were just trying to give back and make the kids happy for the holidays. This might be all they get for Christmas because of the COVID-19 situation, so we are trying our best to be there for them,” said one of our volunteers. This year, we wanted to create an enhanced experience since our event was outdoors and via drive-thru, with social distancing and face masks (in accordance with COVID-19 restrictions). Many children have not been able to experience birthday parties, celebrations, or other special events this year, so we surprised the kids and their families with our new Christmas Experience. In addition to distributing gifts via our Virtual Project Angel Tree, we were able to create excitement with some unexpected delights and treats when the community arrived.

“Our kids have been out of school since March and we were very limited in what we were able to do. So this was definitely a great experience and definitely a big help to us.” —a happy mom

The carnival-like atmosphere yielded awe and happiness for everyone as they were entertained by some of their favorite animated characters. Who wouldn’t enjoy waves and smiles from Olaf and Anna from Disney’s Frozen franchise? We sure did! Additional thrills included more live characters such an angel, an elf, and the Grinch, jugglers on unicycles, people on stilts, balloons, sweet treats, and more. Since COVID-19 has prevented school field trips this year, we brought a petting zoo to the kids! For many, this was their very first time being able to see a goat or camel in real life; we are happy to be part of these special memories. In total, about 300 cars drove through our Christmas Experience, where we gave way approximately 300 toys, bags of popcorn, cotton candy, and snack bags.

Our enhanced Christmas Experience was in addition to the virtual edition of our annual Project Angel Tree. 150 families in need were selected as Angel Tree recipients; then World Changers from all over went to http://missions.creflodollarministries.org/, chose a specific child (whose wish list was included), purchased Christmas gifts for them online, and had them shipped to our campus. The gifts were distributed safely on the same day as the Christmas Experience!

Thank you to every member, partner, and volunteer for being angels this holiday season and impacting a child’s life. Because of your hearts of service, we made a real difference this Christmas. We are World Changers!