A scene from the North Pole
Its Christmas time and all the elves are bustling around throughout the stores shopping for gifts and in the workshop wrapping presents. Cookies and sweets cover the break room table. Holiday music plays loudly in the halls and everyone is busy getting the presents ready for all the children; it's a scene right from the North Pole.
Its also just another day at Lazarus House during the holiday season. This is the time of year that Santa's "elves" work overtime because there are hundreds of children and families that depend on them to bring the joy of Christmas into their lives.
 Bridget Galvin shared, "Last year I was helping with Project Bethlehem. A sweet, elderly man showed up at the gift pick-up station. He was leaning heavily on his cane and walking with obvious pain. He had taken a bus to the stop nearest Lazarus House followed by a taxi to the door; he was exhausted. We handed him a huge bag filled with gifts, but he had no way to get it all home. Seeing his obvious dilemma, a volunteer and I drove him home at the end of our shift. As we drove across town, he explained his wife had just been released from the hospital and was seriously ill with a number of health issues. She was home when we got there. She had no idea that they were receiving anything for Christmas and when we started to bring the bags filled with gifts she was so overcome with emotion that she began to cry. As we turned to go, the man told us that he would never forget the kindness that was shown to his family that holiday season!"
Every year Project Bethlehem provides gifts to more than 400 families in the Greater Lawrence area. Each family is interviewed to gather general information about sizes, favorite colors and a Santa request list for the children. Project Bethlehem puts a great amount of effort to try to personalize the choices for the individuals receiving gifts so that they feel special and cared for on Christmas Day.
This program is not possible without our "elves"; the hundreds of volunteers who generously give their time, talent and treasure to provide Christmas for a family, who otherwise, would have nothing. We still need 50 more donors to shop for families in need. If you are interested in "adopting" a family please contact our email by Friday, December 14, 2012. Thank you for helping to make this holiday a truly wonderful experience for families in the area!
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dig*ni*ty 
Merriam Webster defines it as "the quality or state of being worthy, honored, or esteemed." A growing number of generous people have found our guests worthy of support and have honored them with a commitment to our Campaign for Dignity. We are well on the way to reaching our $5 Million goal for the first ever Lazarus House capital campaign. But we are not there yet. Watch a brief video highlighting three of our many guests whose lives have already been transformed by this campaign on our campaign webpage. Please make a pledge of support (payable over 1 - 3 years), or an outright gift, to the Campaign for Dignity: Helping the People Served by Lazarus House Ministries. Make your pledge or gift online at or by regular mail at Lazarus House Ministries-Dignity, P.O. Box 408, Lawrence, MA 01842. Thank you.
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Your feedback is needed to help improve our event fundraising efforts; the Ministry depends on three events for 30% of its revenues. Please take a minute to fill out this brief survey on our website. The survey will be up until December 31, 2012.
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End of year donations will be doubled
Please help us reduce our $903,000 year-end deficit with your first or additional donation by Dec. 31, 2012 and our Board of Directors will double your gift.
 Because the need for our services has increased dramatically the need to finance them has been even greater - less than a few years ago we were serving an average of 291 families on Wednesdays in our food pantry. This year as many as 955 have waited in line for two bags of groceries. Because of this tremendous growth we have been unable to maintain the food donations necessary to keep our pantry shelves stocked. This year we have had to purchase food for the first time, to ensure our guests don't go hungry.
Please be as generous as you can by donating online or by sending a check to: Lazarus House, P.O. Box 408, Lawrence, MA 01842.
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Holiday Food Orders
Create a Holiday Food Box that will be distributed to families in need; help make their family Christmas special. Call (978) 332-5013/5014 to arrange a drop off time. A $70 donation to purchase a complete Holiday Food Box for a family of four (including Turkey) may be made online or by check and mailed to: Lazarus House, PO Box 408, Lawrence, MA 01842.
Lazarus Open House
Tuesday, January 8, 2013 at 3 p.m. Meet at Good Shepherd Center, 412 Hampshire St, Lawrence MA. Otherwise call 978-689-8575 to schedule an appointment at your convenience.
Joe's Crab Shack Benefit
Print out this flyer for Thursday, December 20th and bring to Joe's Crab Shack 11 a.m. - close, 105 Pleasant Valley Street, Methuen, MA and get 10-20% of your food and drink sales donated to Lazarus House.
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