Warwick Ecumenical Council sponsors holiday basket program

Warwick - Registration is underway for the Warwick Ecumenical Council’s annual Thanksgiving and Christmas food basket program. Through the council, the community provides the less fortunate in the Town of Warwick all the makings of a dinner at Thanksgiving and Christmas. At Christmas, in addition to a holiday meal, children 16 and younger receive gifts and their parents may purchase presents at reduced prices at the council’s Christmas Shop. Registration to receive baskets during the 2006 holiday season will be at the Ecumenical Council Food Pantry at the Warwick United Methodist Church, 135 Forester Ave., on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to noon and Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m. The deadline to sign up for Thanksgiving is Nov. 9 and the deadline for Christmas is Dec. 7. The program is for Town of Warwick residents. Two proofs of identification and town residency are required. A bill showing name and physical address qualifies; post office box addresses are not acceptable. Farm workers should bring a letter from the school their children attend, an electric bill or a letter from their employer verifying their address. There are two ways to support the program. You may adopt a family and provide baskets and gifts or you may volunteer to help on the days the baskets are distributed, Nov. 21 and Dec. 21. To get involved, call 986-4930. In recent years, the Ecumenical Council provided baskets for each holiday to more than 160 families.