Hope for New York’s Christmas Update
This past Christmas was an amazingly successful season at Hope for New York. Thanks to the generosity of Redeemer and our other church partners, we were able to collect over 700 toys and over $10,000 in donations through our HFNY Toy Campaign. That enabled us to distribute gifts to over 2,700 children throughout the city. Over 250 HFNY volunteers worked at our His Toy Store and Angel Tree programs. Additionally, this was the first year that the HFNY Christmas Dinner was actually a breakfast! Over 65 HFNY volunteers prepared and served a holiday meal to nearly 600 hungry New Yorkers.At one of our His Toy Store site churches in Harlem we met a woman named Regina who had recently been released from prison. Regina had been attending this church with her son over the past several months and in that time had decided to follow Christ. But she could never get her husband to attend with her; he was determinedly resistant.
Regina, finding she had to work the Saturday of the His Toy Store, persuaded her husband to go in her place—“but only to pick out the toy,” he said. When he arrived with his invitation, the pastor recognized his name and was able to tell him how much Regina meant to their church and invited him to the worship service the next day. He replied, “I’ll see if I can make it,” which didn’t give the pastor much hope. But the next morning, there was Regina walking into the church, escorted by her son—and husband—for the first time!
Thank you to everyone who participated in these events by vol-unteering and giving generously of your resources. Your efforts have made a wonderful difference in the lives of thousands of New Yorkers like Regina.
Thank you for subscribing to the Redeemer Report. If you would like to support the work of Redeemer in NYC, please use the button below to make a gift.
