Church helps through donations

Giving is something most only think about around the holiday season.

For members of the Monroe Baptist Church, giving is a year-round activity, with special attention given around Christmas.

Throughout the year, members of the church are busy making receiving blankets and hats for infants or for patients of the Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County’s Cancer Treatment Center, which officially opened in July.

Jan Morris, Pastor Bill Morris’ wife, said they have made 20 small throws and hats for patients going through chemotherapy treatment at the center. The blankets help keep the patient’s legs warm while they are having their treatments and the hats can be worn when the patient’s hair falls out.

Six or seven women in the churches women’s missionary union have dedicated time to making the hats and blankets for the babies and cancer patients.

Morris said one lady is so fast she can make a couple of hats in one day.

“It’s a cost that we can help them with. Those kinds of things are expensive,” Jan said. “It tells them that we care about them.”

“We want that to be an expression of our love and a comfort for them,” Pastor Morris said.

Jan said the church members just want those who receive the blankets and hats to know that they care.

“We can’t donate thousands and thousands of dollars,” she said.

However, they can donate their time to make something special.

When the women are not busy making blankets, they are busy baking cookies. For the past four years, members of the church have made it a priority to show the community its appreciation for their service. Jan said each year they bake cookies for the Green River Fire Department, Green River Police Department, Castle Rock Ambulance, the Game and Fish Department, Sweetwater County School District No. 2 schools, and The City of Green River and Sweetwater County offices.

This year, about 23 plates full of cookies and candies were delivered to all of these places. It is a way to say thank you to those who are keeping the streets clean and safe, picking up the trash, responding to emergency calls and running the city and county.

“There’s just so much that goes on in the community that we just don’t think about,” she said.

Since November, members of the church were baking cookies or making candy for this project. Things that could be made ahead and frozen were. Other items, that do not taste the same after frozen, were made just before assembly.

“Every time they had a minute, they were making cookies,” Jan said.

When it was time to assemble the plates, Pastor Morris, Jan Morris, Trena Wallace, Rick and Laurie Kriegh, Alma Hughes and Freda Castle gathered to get the plates ready. They made sure to include a variety of goodies on each plate.

“We had cookies spread from one end to the other,” Jan said.

Those who volunteered would walk up and down the isles, grabbing cookies, bread and candies while putting them on the plate. Once the plates were filled, they would be set on another table where other volunteers wrapped them and put a bow on them.

“It was quite the process,” Jan said. “It’s always quite the process.”

When members are not working on volunteer projects, they are happy to help those out who are in need.

Jan said they have been know to pay for someone’s tank or gas or cover the cost of a grocery bill.

“We’re always here is someone needs help,” Jan said. “If someone asks for help we do.”