“The receptionist broke down in tears.”

Janet Mabie
Special to Spur Ottawa

The Big Give, a national initiative of Christian kindness and generosity, took place June 6, despite the COVID-19 lockdown. More than 25 churches from Ottawa participated, with about as many joining from southern Ontario, Quebec, and even Sydney, B. C.

“Normally we have dozens of churches participate and thousands of lives touched by the Big Give,” says Kathy Blakely, main organizer of the Big Give. “It can look like a day of fun, but also a day where the Church is giving and asking for nothing in return.”

This year, churches were asked to find new and creative ways to bless their communities, while maintaining the COVID-19 protocols. “We felt that the Big Give could still happen as there were churches that seemed very keen on finding ways to give,” shares Blakely. “It has been exciting to see the ideas flow from those who were able to participate.”

Previous years saw church properties filled with people for free give-aways, face painting, hair cuts, car washes, BBQs, and movie nights. Among the creative ideas this year were church groups cleaning up garbage in neighbourhoods, holding prayer walks, and decorating sidewalks with chalk drawings, encouraging words, and Bible verses.

Britannia Baptist provided 100 lunches to staff at Carlingview Manor, a seniors’ home fighting a COVID-19 outbreak. Photo courtesy of Britannia Baptist Church.

“We decided to do something very different in going out to meet a need, instead of having those with needs coming to us,” says Terry Orchard, pastor of Britannia Baptist Church.

Orchard’s wife, Aldenia, is a personal support worker in west Ottawa seniors’ homes. She suggested that convenient, nutritious food is one of the greatest needs for workers in stressful and often short staffed seniors’ homes.

“We got management approval in three facilities Aldenia has worked at: Carlingview Manor, Hillel Lodge, and Embassy West Seniors Center. As a very small church, operating under COVID-19 restrictions, we wanted to have the maximum impact possible,” explains Orchard. “Hillel Lodge and Embassy West Senior Center—both virus free at the time—were chosen as recipients of large boxes of granola bars with enough in each box to cover the staff on each floor for all three shifts.”

Carlingview Manor was different, as they are in the middle of a very serious virus outbreak. The church meticulously prepared a lunch of chicken strips, noodles, vegetables, and Filipino buns, packaged in 100 plastic meal containers.

When church members delivered the meal, Orchard says, “the receptionist broke down in tears.”

The church meticulously prepared 100 lunches for staff of Carlingview Manor. Photo courtesy of Britannia Baptist Church.

Greenbelt Baptist Church, called their Big Give event “the Donation Caravan”. They asked members of the community to leave donation items at the end of their driveways. Greenbelt’s team of volunteers formed a caravan to collect the contributions and brought them to two local charities: the Gloucester Emergency Food Cupboard and Helping with Furniture. Alongside the volunteers was music, small entertainment sights, and Star Wars characters.

“We worked to keep the heart of the Big Give and adapt what we would normally do, to respect the city and provincial guidelines,” explains Danielle Presseault, Greenbelt’s Big Give organizer.

The day before the Big Give, the church distributed flyers in the community with a $25 gift card for Metro. The fliers encouraged recipients to “be blessed or be a blessing. Not everyone is struggling financially right now, but everybody knows somebody who is.”

“We worked to keep the heart of the Big Give and adapt what we would normally do.” Photo courtesy of Greenbelt Baptist Church.

Across the river, in Gatineau, Gordon Belyea says, “We felt that we would be unable to help many people with our usual offering of music, home-cooked Haitian food, and free clothing and small household items.”

Belyea is the associate pastor of Église missionaire évangélique baptiste de L’Outaouais, where this year members dropped off food for La Manne de l’ile Food Bank.

“We are so glad to be able to serve Jesus by helping our neighbours, as He teaches us. We hope to do a proper ‘Grand Partage’ come the fall, Lord willing.”

Volunteers from Église missionaire évangélique baptiste de L’Outaouais sort donations for La Manne de l’ile Food Bank. Photo courtesy of Gordon Belyea.

“One unique characteristic of the Big Give is how we pull churches of all denominations together into unity,” says Wayne Mosley, co-founder of the Big Give. “We’ve had three or four different denominations partner together to love on, and give to, their community. In smaller towns like Arnprior, Morrisburg, and Cobden, we saw up to seven churches of all denominations partnering together.”

“The Big Give has always been about helping those in need, uniting churches—no matter what denomination—and to show the unconditional love of Christ,” Blakely states. “Whether we are in normal times or in the middle of a pandemic, it’s always our mandate to be giving and kind, following the Lord’s leading, and to be open to His great ideas!”