Harvest Festival 2022

Harvest Festival on Saturday 26 November

The Harvest Festival is coming—time to get ready! This annual event in our congregation is an opportunity for fun, fellowship, and generosity. This year’s event has some important changes from recent years—read on for more information.

Date and Time:

This year’s Festival will take place at the church on Saturday 26 November (please note the date change!), from 18h to 21h. While the event has typically been held on a Sunday afternoon, we think this alternate timing will provide new opportunities for enjoying activities, food, and conversation together.

This Year’s Projects:

This year, all funds raised at the Harvest Festival will be given to two important projects. You can read about them on the following page.

Bring food to share for the potluck supper:

• If your family name starts with AtoH, please bring a STARTER, • names from ItoP, a MAINDISH,
• and Q to Z DESSERT.

Something from your home country and tradition would be a bonus! And, if you can, do please bring a drink to share. Buffet tables will be set up in the sanctuary .

Offer something for the silent auction (submissions taken until 20 Nov):

The evening will include a silent auction. Everyone will have an equal chance in the bidding and many of the items on auction will include having fun together. If you would like to offer something for the silent auction, please send your proposal to the Harvest Festival team — a dinner, an outing, a tour, some baby-sitting, baked goods, perhaps a gift-basket. Send it by 20 November to Jonathan Frerichs: jonathan_frerichs@yahoo.com. The team foresees choosing 10-15 such gifts to auction in this way. Valerie’s Christmas Pudding Stir-Up will be on auction too.

Make your pledge ahead of time (by 25 Nov):

This year, you’re asked to make your Harvest Festival “pledge” ahead of time. It’s very simple—just write an email to office@genevalutheran.ch, indicating how much you will contribute toward this year’s Festival. The office will keep a tally, and by the day of the event, we’ll know how much we’ve raised. Why do it this way? This year’s organizing team plans to provide each person attending the Harvest Festival with an equal number of “tokens” for use in the silent auction that evening. The total number of tokens available will be determined by the total amount pledged. Please make your pledge by 25 November.

If you have questions about this year’s Festival, contact Jonathan Frerichs or Dave Lyon. Come join in the fun!

This Year’s Harvest Festival Projects

All funds raised at this year’s Harvest Festival will be divided evenly between two projects:

Permanences Volantes – Swiss Church Aid

The Permanences volantes program (run by EPER – Swiss Church Aid) aims to improve the living conditions of migrants by promoting contacts between them and players in Switzerland’s social and health services and the relevant Geneva network. The project’s work covers prevention, support and guidance, which are provided directly to the communities concerned.

The project targets migrants living in highly precarious situations in Geneva and provides them with information in their mother tongue. Talks and discussions are organized to convey information and establish contact between players in the social and health services network and the communities. Help sessions are organized in the form of individual consultations, in which beneficiaries are informed, counselled and given guidance regarding the services at their disposal. Group community activities such as cultural, sporting or training projects make it possible to build on beneficiaries’ resources, develop their skills and facilitate their integration by ending their isolation.

Drought Relief – Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church

This project aims to provide food relief for 400 households in Kwale County in Coastal Kenya. Lekule and Ngatu communities have suffered the effects of severe drought, such as starvation and malnutrition. There are reports of children not attending school or, due to hunger, having little attention during classes. Our support would help the Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church to organize a distribution of food in this region, in cooperation with local churches.

Let’s give generously to support these important projects!