WINTER PARK, Fla. – A Central Florida church opened a unique Christmas Store on Saturday that empowers parents to purchase amazing gifts for their children at steeply discounted prices.
Christmas is a joyous season, but for Jennifer Spencer, it can be stressful.
“We live paycheck to paycheck. It’s kind of hard,” Spencer said.
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The mother of two didn’t know how she was going to put gifts under the tree this year, but thanks to Action Church, it is going to be a special holiday.
“We really want to invest in families,” Action Church Lead Pastor Justin Dailey said.
This marks the fifth year the church opened its “Christmas Store” at all of its Central Florida locations, but it’s not like any store you have seen before. For $5, parents can shop for great gifts for kids of all ages.
“We’ve got basketballs, we’ve got Fortnite stuff, we’ve got Nike hoodies,” Dailey said.
Church volunteers acted as shopping elves and helped the families pick out the perfect presents. Dailey said this is all about empowering the parents and letting them shop with dignity.
“We make their parents, their grandparents, the heroes,” Dailey said. “We’re not coming in and solving all the problems... we’re just a place that can be source of comfort, of help in times of need, but we want somebody else to get the credit. Mostly God, but then the parents, grandparents — not Action Church.”
More than 1,600 children are receiving gifts from the Christmas Store this year.
Spencer said she’s grateful for her church. She adds this isn’t a hand out.
“It’s a hand up, definitely. It’s giving them that leverage just to be the star of Christmas,” Spencer said.
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