The New Street United Methodist Church Fellowship Breakfast Group pauses behind the gifts they wrapped for the Christmas Child Project in their church dining room on Dec. 9. Pictured, from left to right, are: Becky Lidgerding, Barbara Weller, Andy White, Carolyn Kerr, Tom White, Bonnie Costello, Carole Feaster, Sharon Foster, Ned Pitzer, Carol Goldthorpe and Judy Pitzer. Courtesy photo

SHEPHERDSTOWN — On Tuesday afternoon, Shepherdstown residents Judy Pitzer and Carole Feaster could be found driving to a local elementary school with a pile of presents in the trunk.

According to Pitzer, the delivery was one of two being made this week by the New Street United Methodist Church Fellowship Breakfast Group, of which she is the chairperson. The second delivery consisted of group members Carolyn Kerr and Barbara Weller.

“Three years ago, we decided we wanted to do something for the community during the Christmas season. We contacted two local elementary schools, who provided us with families who needed help for the holidays,” Pitzer said, noting the group works through school guidance counselors, to determine which gifts to purchase for the families.

Funding for the Christmas Child Project, which is in its third year, was requested from New Street United Methodist Church’s congregation after Thanksgiving and collected over the following three weeks in a donation box.

“This year, we raised $1,525. We are fortunate to have a generous and caring congregation,” Pitzer said.

“Our hope is that we have provided a brighter, happier and less stressful Christmas for two families and [their] six children.”

Pitzer noted that the funds were divided evenly between the two groups of three people, who went out to purchase the Christmas gifts and necessities for the two families.

“We try to even up in the family — if there’s two boys, we want both boys to have the same amount of packages,” Pitzer, who has been a member of the group for about 14 years, said. “The guidance counselors tell us whether the children need shoes, socks, jeans, coats, that sort of thing.”

Becky Lidgerding, who has been a member of the New Street United Methodist Church Fellowship Breakfast Group for the past 10 years, estimated that each child receives 10-12 gifts.

In addition, families may be given gift cards to local grocery stores, to ensure they are able to afford medication or food, during the Christmas season.

“It’s a small but generous church,” Lidgerding, who has been a lifelong member of the church and Shepherdstown resident, said.

The New Street United Methodist Church Fellowship Breakfast Group began over 25 years ago, as a men’s fellowship group that met for breakfast and conversation. It eventually expanded its membership to include women in the church.

The group has become well known, over the years, for its biyearly spaghetti dinners and quarterly pancake breakfasts, the proceeds from which go toward the upkeep of the church’s historic building, which was built in 1854.

Among all of the good work the breakfast group does, Lidgerding has come to appreciate the Christmas Child Project the most, as it has allowed her to carry on the spirit of giving and compassion that was passed down to her by her mother.

“I think I do it, because my mother did it in the mid-’60s. She was president of the Shepherdstown Elementary School PTA (parent-teacher association),” Lidgerding said. “My brother came home, in probably 1965, and told us that there were children in his class who had holes in their shoes. There was no guidance counselor — there was a principal and a secretary in the ’60s. So, as the president of the PTA, my mother made arrangements to bring the children home and let them into our house, to have baths, and then she took them shopping at the JCPenney. That was the example that was set. That’s the Shepherdstown way!”