Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church, 0S501 Summit Drive, Winfield, dedicated its ‘Blessing Box’ on Sunday, March 25, 2018, during its 9 a.m. worship service. The ‘Blessing Box’ is a small pantry stocked with free non-perishable food, paper products and personal care items that is open to anyone in the community in need.
There’s a door on the front, but no lock, so anyone can take what they need 24-7. It displays the sign, “Take what you need – leave what you can – be blessed today.”
Deb Odefey, chair of Christ Our Savior’s Board of Discipleship, said “the ‘Blessing Box’ was strongly supported by the church congregation as a church outreach initiative to show Christ’s love in serving others who may need help in the community.” All of the items inside the box are free and there are no forms to fill out, so it’s completely anonymous, unlike traditional community food pantries.
Similar yard-based pantries have gone up across the country, as well as in other communities in Illinois. Members of Christ Our Savior, as well as the entire community, are invited to use the pantry or leave donations.
The ‘Blessing Box’ was an Eagle Scout project for Christian Demos, a senior at Wheaton-Warrenville South High School and member of Troop 575. Christian has been involved in scouting since he was 10 years old and his troop met at Christ Our Savior for many years. Christian said he wanted to make the ‘Blessing Box’ his project “as a way to personally give back to the church.”
At the dedication, Christian gave special thanks and recognition to Al Schoneck, Christ Our Savior Board of Church Properties Chair, who assisted Christian with consulting as he planned and executed the project. The ‘Blessing Box’ is located on the west end of Christ Our Savior’s church parking lot at 0S501 Summit Drive, in Winfield.
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