Insights & Information

Blessings in a basket

Triad Baptist Christian Academy students deliver gift baskets to the Kernersville Police Department for Christmas

Some Triad Baptist teamwork brought blessings to those on the front lines of the 2016 holiday shopping crunch: those who served the customers buying the gifts.

When the Doulos Sunday School class learned that Triad Baptist Christian Academy planned to surprise local retailers with a “Blessing Basket” gift the week of Black Friday, the class decided to forego its seven-year Operation Snack Friday deliveries of snacks to the same retailers but instead help TBCA with its project.

The result? Smiles at the Kernersville Police and Fire departments and 35 businesses, a ‘thank you’ post on Facebook by the Kernersville Chick-fil-A for its basket and several ‘thank you’ cards from recipients, plus a photo and news of the event shared by one retailer with its corporate office.

“It was a great learning experience for our kids,” said Hannah Wilson, admissions coordinator for Triad Baptist Christian Academy. “One of the stores we visited said they were surprised a church would give them something. One of the recipients cried happy tears, and the students delivering the basket to her store invited her to church. Several of our students said, ‘We should do this every year!’ ”

Facebook post by the Kernersville Chick-fil-A thanking Triad Baptist Christian Academy for its Basket Blessing from the school

“We partnered with Doulos Sunday School class who provided many homemade treats that completed the baskets!” Wilson said. “ Stacy Miley, our Human Resources and Finance director, worked very hard on making the baskets beautiful with bows and decorations. The classes really stepped up and brought a lot of things in! We had an abundance of items, and were able to add more businesses than we had originally planned because of it!”

Jason Johnson, who leads the Doulos Sunday School Class, said it was glad to help make the basket blessings a church-school project. “Operation Snack Friday is one of three primary community outreach projects we do each year so our folks were already primed and ready. We were pleased to help TBCA further extend the reach of its project, and share some of the expertise we have from having done this for so long.

“While it’s important all the time, and not just around the Christmas shopping season, we want to continue to do everything we can as a class to help point lives toward Christ, and share the blessings He’s given us with others.”

Donna Mannon, TBCA’s director of education, said the Blessing Basket project was a natural fit for the school and its theme for the 2016-2017 school year which focuses on applying biblical truth and beliefs to make your mark on the lives of those around you.

“The generosity of our students and families in providing items for the gift baskets allowed us to show our appreciation not only for the businesses but also the first responders in our community,” she said. “TBCA students were blessed by the impact the baskets had on the recipients.”

First-grade teacher Connie Alderman witnessed the impact of ‘Basket Blessings’ firsthand.

“My students loved bringing in all the snacks and watching their basket be filled with all their treats,” she said. “They were so proud to give the basket to the ladies at Hallmark, and talked about how much fun it was. The parents were so generous. They sent in more snacks than my basket could hold. It was a fun and wonderful experience for all of us.”

Phase 2 Shot of TBC B&W 17

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