Church's pink Christmas tree chosen to attract pajama donations
The shocking pink Christmas tree at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Naperville was chosen for a reason: it’s difficult to miss. The two-foot tall artificial tree is exceptionally bright so it can bee seen from a distance.
“You can see it from across the room, so there’s really no excuse for people not donate to the pink PADS tree,” said Susan Greenwood of Naperville.
Greenwood purchased the tree to bring attention and hopefully donations to a pajama drive for Public Action to Deliver Shelter guests.
Greenwood is one of the coordinators of PADS at First Congregational UCC, which hosts the program each Wednesday night during the months of October through May. Homeless individuals from throughout DuPage County are given a hot dinner, a bed for the night and breakfast in the morning. PADS rotates through a different area church each night of the week. First Congregational UCC has supported PADS for more than 20 years.
The church has had different types of PADS drives during the years, including collections of toiletries, socks, underwear and other items. This year, pajamas are the focus.
“We’re allowed to sleep 42 people in our church,” Greenwood said. “Of these, one night I counted, and 19 of the guests were children. Not quite half, but pretty close. That percentage changes, so sometimes we have less, sometimes we have more. It’s a sad statistic.”
Greenwood said she had started noticing that PADS guests were sleeping in their street clothes.
“When you are homeless, you have to carry all of your belongings with you, so naturally you’re going to limit the number of things you carry, especially families with very little ones,” she said. “When the kids are two or three, it makes it difficult to carry very much.”
The pajama drive started right after Thanksgivings and will continue through Christmas.
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