Nearly $7,000 has been raised through a program that challenges Christians to multiply $20 bills.
The Matthew Mystery Project Fundraiser gave a bill to church-goers at a service in October last year. Participants from the Comox United Church took on a challenge to use the $20 bill to launch fundraisers that multiplied in value.
“(It’s) inspired by the biblical parable of the talents,” said Elaine Browne, project co-ordinator at the church. “Congregation members have been enthusiastically using their personal talents to multiply their $20 seed money.”
According to the website Theologyofwork.org, the parable of the talents is a story about exercising the gifts one has in service of the good.
“It is not acceptable merely to put those gifts on a closet shelf and ignore them,” reads the website’s commentary. “The gifts we receive… include skills, abilities, family connections, social positions, education, experiences, and more.”
In Comox Valley, the participants have put their skills to the test by producing pierogi dinners, concerts, beer tastings, lectures, tea parties, cabbage rolls, meatballs, homemade soups and sweet treats for sale, according to Browne.
“One of the benefits of the project has been that it has allowed the congregation to discover some hidden skills amongst its members. At a marketplace in November, crafty and artistic members made and sold a wide variety of creative items including quilted dog beds, knitted toques, shawls, washcloths, pin-lace ornaments, driftwood trees, and music CDs.”
Sales take place at market days inside the church.
The next marketplace will take place on Sunday, March 17 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Comox United Church. The church is located at 250 Beach Drive in Comox. Admission is free.
The event will continue until April 2h, when an ending celebration will take place. The project invites Comox Valley community members to attend the next craft marketplace. For more information contact Elaine Brown, 250-650-9925.
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