Drive-through Nativity scene lends a hand to food pantry
Twinkling lights lined the path leading vehicles through a live Nativity scene Sunday night at the Nixon United Methodist Church.
“I thought it was pretty awesome,” said Michelle Dongiovanni, who drove a van full of people from the Wesley Family Services in Sarver. The whole van cheered in agreement. “Makes you feel good inside.”
A group of mostly youth volunteers braved the cold and breezy night to portray the holy figures of the Christian Nativity scene. Some were Boy Scouts who use the church for their meetings while others are the church's own youth group members.
The snippets of the story showed people dressed in costume as Mary and Joseph, kings and Jesus. At the manger scene, the actors stood alongside live animals.
“(My daughter) likes the animals,” said Janet Hlebiczki of Valencia.
As they finished the scene, Janet Hlebiczki and her husband, Joe, handed over a couple of bags of canned items to Pastor BT Gilligan, who wished people well at the end of the path.Gilligan said all the donated food is taken to the South Butler Food Pantry, and donated cash is split between upkeep costs for the Nativity and the food pantry.“We usually get far more canned goods,” Gilligan said.Joe Hlebiczki said before heading to the Nativity, a stranger paid for his dinner anonymously. He said it's a special time of year, and he and his family felt happy to donate the canned goods.“It's a nice time for giving,” he said. “It's good for unity.”Gilligan said the drive-through Nativity helps drive home the messages of the season, giving to others and the birth of Christ. He said it has been sending these messages for 23 years. It would have been 24 years, if not for a cancellation last year due to COVID-19.“We love being a community church, so we do as much as we can for it,” Gilligan said.The Nativity takes months of planning, even work in the summer months to repair and paint the backdrops for the scenes. Each site also features a Bible verse alongside the scene.In waves, cars, trucks and vans continued showing up throughout the dark, cloudy night, turning off their headlights as they entered. Some entered more than once, and almost every vehicle stopped by to tell Gilligan how it was beautifully done.Dongiovanni said after everything people have been through in the past couple years, it was a good reprieve and a great boost to the spirit.“It was nicely set up,” Dongiovanni said. “It's nice to have things like this set up in the community that are positive.”
