OCA Chancery
Syosset, New York
Click here for a .pdf version of the poster.
Click here for photos from previous Christmas stocking projects.
September 16, 2005
Reverend Father and Dearly Beloved in the Lord,
We begin the new Church Year again with tragedy, last year in Beslan, Russia, this year in our own Gulf of Mexico. Both events have deeply affected the lives of thousands of children. In keeping with our commitment to touch as many young lives as we can, it is also at this time that I again ask you to support the Annual Christmas Stocking Project. In it’s twelfth year, the Project is an outreach effort of the Orthodox Church in America’s Office of Humanitarian Aid.
Last year, to include children from the country of Georgia, we raised the goal from 15,000 to 18,000 filled Christmas stockings or equivalent gifts. We reached the goal—thanks to the generous support of so many of you.
This year we will keep the goal at 18,000 gifts, but we will seek out groups of some of the most displaced children in the Gulf region and include them in the distribution. Children in Albania, Belarus, Georgia, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine and some Alaskan villages will continue to receive them.
Each stocking or equivalent gift will cost $5. (a slight, but necessary increase). $50. will provide for 10 children, $500. for 100 children. Workers at the Cerebral Palsy Center on Long Island will continue to assemble the stockings.
It is heartening to me to see the photos of our young people in parishes, using their creative abilities to raise funds for the Christmas gifts in a variety of ways. Continue in these efforts. May more youth groups and Jr. FOCA chapters join in.
Please plan your projects and collections early in the fall. Send your donations to the Chancery to the attention of Mrs. Arlene Kallaur as close as possible to October 31st. though they will be gratefully received through the end of the year.
A thank you letter from the Georgian Orthodox Church read, “Very many children were overwhelmed at your generosity and your campaign was covered by the national news on several stations.” Our small, but continued outreach to children across the globe indeed touches the hearts of many. Let us continue and even surpass last year’s efforts.
With love in Christ,
+ HERMAN
Archbishop of Washington and New York
Metropolitan of All America and Canada