For decades the community in Gladstone, Ore. has gathered food, toys, and teen gifts in an effort to help struggling families provide Christmas presents for their families. Our Oregon Conference office building is located in this tiny town, and this year it became one of 11 partner groups working to help gather and distribute these items later this month.

Leslie Robinette, communications coordinator for Gladstone Schools and project coordinator for the Adopt-a-Family program, shared that she was thrilled to have us as a new partner this year after learning that another partner would be unable to participate. Collection bins for these items have been set up in the conference office lobby and the Adventist Book Center for the past few weeks as part of a much larger community effort. Items from collection locations like these are gathered and taken to Gladstone High School, where students sort and wrap the gifts for each family. Volunteers will gather on Sabbath morning, December 17th, at 9:00 AM at the Gladstone High School to take meals and the wrapped gifts to their respective families.

Jon Holland, associate treasurer at the Oregon Conference and local Gladstone resident, was a major facilitator of the partnership this year. Each year around Christmas, Oregon Conference employees are encouraged to participate in community service projects. Last year many employees spent time volunteering to distribute food and pitch in with other duties at Portland Adventist Community Services, but as plans were coming together for 2022, Jon reached out to the City of Gladstone to learn about their needs. “We’ve partnered with so many efforts outside of this community in the past,” he said, “So I thought, ‘Why not try to do something that’s connected to the very community we’re located in?’”