Bridging the gap with gift jars

Times Reporter

 

Seniors, young moms, and children could be seen mingling together at the Lord of All Lutheran Church on Dec. 3 during a morning of fun and festivities. Every second Monday the ladies from the Bridging the Gap Mentorship Program gather to do a craft, socialize and have lunch together. 

“(There are) different craft ideas for the moms to do and then Grandma mentors who sit and hold babies while moms get to visit with each other,” said Pat Cornett with the Bridging the Gap Mentorship Program.

This week the numbers were the highest they have been, something that is attributed to the fact that different groups were invited to join in. Parent Link, Growing Opportunities, and Step One Health and Wellness Support Group members took part in the craft and lunch. 

The mentorship programs see a grandma matched up with a family.  The bi-weekly meeting is set up to give the families a chance to get together and bond, while doing something fun. 

“That’s what Bridging the Gap is about is bridging the generations,” said Cornett. 

“We wouldn’t be able to do these sort of programs with Bridging the Gap if we weren’t encompassing the volunteer segment because it just wouldn’t come together,” said May Rostecki-Budzey with the Growing Families Society.

The Lord of All Lutheran Church lends the space in kind which allows the program to be offered for free. During the Dec. 3 gathering each participant made Christmas gift jars. There were three cookie jar options to be picked from and everyone also made a soup jar. A gift jar is Mason jar, or another type of clear jar, layered with dry ingredients with a recipe attached. Sharon Macfarlane volunteered to organize the food and spent five and a half hours buying the ingredients in bulk. She did the calculations and figured out how many cups or grams she would need for each recipe according to how many people would be making a gift jar.