Parishioners of St. Anne’s Episcopal Church are filling 108 Easter Baskets for Annapolis families who are in need. The combined estimated value of contributions is $15,000.

Each year, in the weeks leading up to Easter, St. Anne’s makes available blue plastic bins for parishioners to fill with food and small gifts. Each participant chooses the size of a family to receive the basket. The basket provides food for breakfast, lunch and a traditional dinner on Easter Day. Most parishioners also include Easter gifts and toys for children.

The baskets, which will help a combined total of more than 500 people this year, are collected on Palm Sunday weekend and will be distributed throughout the community in coming days. Each basket contains a letter from the Rev. Timothy Mulder, St. Anne’s Interim Rector, and information about St. Anne’s parish.

This program, which is nearly 20 years old, answers God’s call to feed the hungry during the time of Christ’s Resurrection; spreads God’s Word; and shows that St. Anne’s cares for the human concerns of our community. The program also benefits the donors through the joy of giving to those in need, as well as to those who receive the baskets. In 2017, the Easter Basket program touched an estimated 400 lives (https://stannes-annapolis.org/outreach-touches-millions-in-2017).

“Easter is about new life, especially coming out of hopelessness,” said the Rev. Mulder. “This shared effort is what being church in a community is all about.”

The Easter Basket program is organized by the Men’s Huddle, which is St. Anne’s longest-running lay ministry, with participation from across the parish. The program is also one of several similar outreach efforts each year at St. Anne’s. In the summer, parishioners provide backpacks filled with schools supplies to needy students. In the fall, a similar program provides jackets to students as cold weather sets in. The St. Anne’s community has supported a community in Guatemala in an intensive outreach ministry for more than a decade.

For more information on Outreach Ministries at St. Anne’s, visit: https://stannes-annapolis.org/serve/outreach-ministries.

Contact: Josiah Dykstra, Senior Warden of St. Anne’s, at srwarden@stannes-annapolis.org.