(January 15, 2021) The Antioch Baptist Church of Springfield continued their Christmas tradition of assisting those in need with a generous #GivingTuesday donation of toys, clothing, food, and gift cards to La Casa de Don Pedro. La Casa’s community engagement team and the Lower Broadway Neighborhood Association (LBNA) to delivered the toys to Wynona Lipman Gardens, a public housing community in the Lower Broadway neighborhood on December 15. This wasn’t the first time the church worked with us, however. Pastor Milton B. Hobbs and his congregation at Antioch Baptist had contacted La Casa last year and informed Louis E. Prezeau, Jr., La Casa’s Director of Community and Economic Development that they had collected toys for distribution to children or families in need but did not have an outlet for them. This year, however, the outpouring was tremendous. “I thought I might go in and find a few dozen toys but to my surprise, Antioch Baptist had collected more than 100 toys, over 20 bags of clothes, and a few boxes of non-perishable food items,” said Prezeau.
Wynona Lipman Gardens Tennant Association President Towanna Jennings and Vice-President Inez Rivera helped unload and store 3 carloads of Holiday goodies that they distributed to families and children at the Newark Housing Authority property over the December holidays.
“We really appreciate La Casa and Antioch Baptist Church for thinking of us. The pandemic has been hard on everyone and this donation has made the Holidays just a little more normal,” Jennings said.
