Alternative Christmas Market
Welcome to Fourth’s Online Alternative Christmas Market! The Alternative Christmas Market (ACM) provides a way for our congregation to give back to organizations who are serving as the hands and feet of Christ in our community and world. Last year, we raised over $20,000 to give to our partner organizations! This year, the ACM comes to you virtually, as well as in person on December 1st, making giving easier than ever. You’re invited to browse through the organizations below and learn about each organization’s mission and work. Once you’ve identified the organizations you would like to support, click “Donate Now” and follow the instructions for online giving. Once we receive your contribution, we will mail you Christmas cards that you can then gift to friends and family, informing them that a gift was made in their honor. All donations must be submitted by Sunday, December 1st. To participate in our in-person market and to meet our mission partners, join us on Sunday, December 1st at 11:45am for the AgápÄ“ Brunch. Thank you for your generosity!
A Child's Haven
A Child’s Haven (ACH) is a 501(c)(3) organization celebrating over 30 years of providing healing therapy for Greater Greenville’s abused and neglected preschoolers. We work to fortify vulnerable families and strengthen our community, treating an average of 150 children and families annually with the goal of guiding them toward a brighter future.
Nearly all ACH children have been expelled from their regular childcare settings and face severe emotional trauma. Our programs equip these children with the skills they need to return to the mainstream childcare system, increasing their chances of educational success and long-term employment. We also work with caregivers, many of whom have experienced childhood abuse and neglect, providing services free of charge to families who qualify for our program. Together, we can create a nurturing environment where every child feels valued, loved, and supported. Thank you for considering a donation that truly makes a difference!
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$10 Two healthy meals and a snack for a child, ensuring they receive the nourishment they need to thrive
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$25 Reimbursement for therapists’ mileage for a day of home visits, bringing vital support directly to families in need
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$50 One day of round-trip transportation for a busload of children, allowing them to access essential services and experiences
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$100 One hour of individual therapy, giving a child the dedicated support they need to heal and grow
Canterbury Counseling
​ The mission of Canterbury Counseling Center is to provide quality pastoral care and counseling services to all seeking help in the greater Greenville community regardless of faith affiliation, ethnicity, or socio-economic status.
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$10 Crafts to stock our therapeutic playroom
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$25 Supporting staffing for group therapy services at partner agencies such as Safe Harbor, Pendleton Place and YouthBASE
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$50 One counseling session for a client receiving reduced rate counseling
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$100 Community Based Educational Event
suffering caused by substance use disorders for over 5,000 new individuals in Upstate South Carolina each year: Rebuilding Lives, Healing Families, Strengthening Communities.
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$10 Uber ride to Recovery House
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$25 Daily Helpline On-Call Team
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$50 Gratitude meal for the participants, to engage and uplift
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$100 “Gina Love Fund” to get someone the necessary things they need in their recovery
FAVOR Upstate
FAVOR (Faces and Voices of Recovery) is a Recovery Community Center that helps individuals and families with addiction related issues. We provide coaching, daily meetings, resources, and more. All of our services are FREE. FAVOR provides a compassionate and innovative response to the
Greenville Homeless Alliance
Our mission is to strengthen and broaden support in an effort to increase options for people who are experiencing homelessness in
Greenville County. We accomplish our mission through four working groups, Educate, Advocate, Collaborate, and Innovate. In 2023, a new position of a Housing Navigator was created to increase our capacity to collaborate and innovate.
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This year the alternative gifts will help individuals who have lived on the streets of Greenville for more than a year, chronically homeless, and who have a gross income of less than $1000/month. DeAndra as the Housing Navigator wakes up each day to build relationships with landlords which literally open doors for chronically homeless people who have a relationship with a case manager/social worker. It is through these partnerships and relationship building with our neighbors surviving on the streets that together we can welcome them to a safe home. Individuals may move off the streets with only a sleeping bag and what they can carry in their backpack. This is where your alternative gift makes all the difference!
According to a 2017 study conducted by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, a person experiencing chronic homelessness costs the taxpayer an average of $35,578 per year. When individuals experiencing chronic homelessness are connected to supportive housing, the cost for taxpayers is reduced. Supportive housing is defined as a stable, safe place to live with support services going forward. The Homeless Alliance conducted a study of Reedy Place residents that showed a 92% decrease in charges to our local healthcare and justice systems.
Your gift will ensure their house feel like home and stretch their extremely limited income. Together, we are transforming our entire community and bringing hope to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
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$10 Toiletry Kit (Soap, deodorant, toilet paper, toothpaste, and toothbrush)
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$25 Cleaning Supplies (Broom, dustpan, mop, Clorox, Windex, dish detergent, Lysol, cleaning brush)
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$50 Bedding (Mattress cover, sheets, and comforter)
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$100 Stock the pantry and refrigerator
Homes of Hope
At Homes of Hope our mission is to open doors for economic mobility through housing, economic and workforce development. We believe that Jesus called us in Matthew 25 to be His hands and feet in meeting the needs of others and that he commissioned us in Matthew 28 to
make disciples of all people. Our vision is to provide opportunities for generational change throughout South Carolina. Homes of Hope began in 1998 with the dream to provide families in poverty with a housing option they could both afford and be proud to call home. Simultaneously, another idea developed: to restore men’s lives through sobriety and job training as they acquired life-changing skills in constructing some of our homes. From humble beginnings remodeling and repairing mobile homes, Homes of Hope has grown into the largest non-profit developer of single-family affordable housing in South Carolina. The small job training program has grown into a successful workforce development initiative that truly transforms the lives of graduates and sets them up for successful careers in well-paying trades. To date we have developed 703 homes and graduated 335 men. We rebuild communities through our affordable housing development of whole neighborhoods that are mixed-income. We intentionally work in communities to make sure we are not creating pockets of concentrated poverty, but are rather mindfully revitalizing communities and taking into consideration the multiple and complex issues each community faces when undergoing renewal.
​Our mixed-use development projects across the state are another aspect of our mission to rebuild communities; we use our expertise as a developer to help economic revival efforts in communities across South Carolina.
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$10 New pillow for 1 man
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$25 Mattress cover and sheet set for 1 of 9 beds
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$50 Uniform t-shirts for 1 man
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$100 Devotional books, materials and the assistance they need to continue their recovery journey through spiritual discipleship
Living Learning Community
To create and nourish a growing network of empowered African women through the framework of a living learning community that uses dialogue, mutuality, and positive regard and cultivates the ability to discern the leading of the Holy Spirit for grassroots leadership work.
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The Living Learning Community for Leadership Development with African Women (LLC) is a project that brings young sub-
Saharan African women to Nairobi to live together in community for about three years, with some on scholarship to earn a university degree while simultaneously learning how to engage in grassroots leadership work. Students learn to engage with one another in the spirit of mutuality through dialogue with ongoing positive regard for others.
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Once they graduate, they pay it forward by going back to their country, rural village, or informal settlement areas to replicate the same processes they practiced in the LLC experience, working with women who face oppression and extreme poverty. It is the African women, themselves, who are wise, strong, and resilient, who are giving shape to projects in their own community for development and transformation.​
The Living Learning Community has multiplied to informal settlement areas of Nairobi, to rural northeast Nigeria, and to female theology students in Kigali, Rwanda! We hope to start a LLC with the Batwa women of Burundi soon.
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$10 Electricity for one student for one month
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$25 Internet for one student for one month
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$50 One textbook for university studies
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$100 Rent for one student for one month
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Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance enables congregations and mission partners of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to witness to the healing love of Christ through caring for communities adversely affected by crises and catastrophic events. PDA is part of a large and dedicated community of disaster response organizations and most recently, PDA has been working to address the needs of people who were impacted by Hurricanes Helene
and Milton. PDA has three initial deployment teams in Tampa Bay Presbytery, Holston Presbytery (Eastern Tennessee), and Western North Carolina Presbytery, Northeast Georgia Presbytery, and Foothills Presbytery (our presbytery here in SC). In addition, PDA has sent grants Presbyteries to support unmet immediate needs. PDA’s model of relief work focused on long-term support and care after the initial wave of disaster response
has come through. PDA is expecting to be in the hardest hit areas of Western NC and TN for many years to come. Your financial gift supports this work.
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$10 Cleaning supplies for a household affected by disaster
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$25 Gas gift card to aid in transportation or powering a generator
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$50 One box of fresh food for a family facing hardship
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$100 A night in a hotel for a family that is displaced
Project Host
Our mission: using food as a tool to nourish the hungry and train the unemployed.
We fight food insecurity in the greater Greenville area by feeding the hungry, training and educating the un- and underemployed, and paying it forward through our social enterprises.
At our core, we believe food is the main ingredient to ensure individuals are healthy and thriving in their communities.
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$10 Feed one guest for a week in the Soup Kitchen
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$25 Feed one child for a week through Cooking For Kids
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$50 Sponsor a student for a day in our Culinary School
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$100 Feed ten guests for a week in our Soup Kitchen
Queer Wellness Center
Here, at the Queer Wellness Center (QWC) in the heart of Greenville South Carolina, we believe in the transformative power of inclusivity, acceptance, and holistic well-being. With this in mind we developed our vision: To support and enhance a community in Upstate South Carolina where LGBTQ+ children,
couples and families feel safe knowing they will have access to competent and inclusive medical and wellness services. Our mission is to enhance access and reduce barriers to life saving and identity affirming services for the LGBTQ+ community in the upstate of South Carolina.
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$10 Pays for a gas card, Uber ride, or bus tickets for clients to get to appointments
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$25 Pays for 2 weeks of snacks for our youth services
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$50 Pays for 1 medical visit to either a medical or mental health provider
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$100 Pays for 2 nights of shelter in a safe, affirming place for an LGBT+ person who has become homeless as a result of the orientation and/or identity
Safe Harbor
Safe Harbor provides pathways for people impacted by domestic abuse to survive and thrive and raises awareness of domestic abuse through community engagement and education.
We offer a continuum of services for survivors of domestic abuse and their children in Greenville, Anderson, Pickens and Oconee Counties. Our services include a 24/7 help line, safe emergency shelters, counseling for survivors and their children, case management, assistance with filing for an Order of Protection, transitional housing, domestic abuse education and parenting classes, and group support.
Safe Harbor also works to end cultural acceptance of domestic abuse through prevention, education and a coordinated community response. We offer prevention education for youth through our REP program, as well as awareness and educational opportunities about the issue of domestic abuse for our community at-large.
Together, we envision a culture in which all people feel safe and valued in their relationships. To see how you can join us in this effort or to learn more about Safe Harbor’s services, visit our website or give our 24/7 help line a call at 1-800-291-2139.
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$10 Bus tickets for a shelter client to get to/from work
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$25 Diapers and wipes for a shelter client with a baby/toddler
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$50 Rental application fee for a client seeking housing
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$100 Dinner for clients in all 3 of Safe Harbor’s shelter locations
Sterling Neighborhood Association
The Sterling Community in Greenville, South Carolina, is a significant, legacy Black neighborhood in the Southeast. With its remarkable emergence in the 1890s through establishment of a high school for young Black Americans by Reverend Daniele Melton Minus , a tradition for education and excellence was begun. The son of former slaves, Reverend Minus was supported by philanthropist Mrs. E.R. Sterling (above), for whom the school and later the neighborhood were named. The neighborhood’s significance in the Civil Rights Movement during and prior to the 1960s and beyond is particularly
noteworthy, as partially evidenced by the prominence of Jesse Jackson, who was raised there. In 1967, at a time of integration, Sterling High School was mysteriously burned to the ground – a great loss for the community. With organized efforts within the Movement, Sterling High School’s student body implored the Greenville County School Board to maintain the school’s integrity. It
remained a viable institution until 1970, when integration was fully implemented. In intervening years, outmigration of residents, subsequent neighborhood decline, and recent gentrification of surrounding areas did not diminish Sterling’s place in history as a center of African American life and vitality – a tribute to its legacy and importance. Today, the Sterling Neighborhood Association works to build community, advocate for the neighborhood’s protection and advancement, and care for its residents.
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$10- A meal for a resident in need
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$25- Hygiene supplies for a resident in need
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$50- Food for a neighborhood gathering
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$100- Sponsorship for a child in the Sterling After School Program
Thornwell
Thornwell’s vision is to see hopeful, healthy, and empowered children and families fulfilling their God-given potential.
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As a Christian ministry, our mission is to provide safe and nurturing environments where we educate, equip, and support children and families to thrive.
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$10 - Provide a gas card for a transitional teen commuting to college or work
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$25 - Provide needed toiletries for a new child admission
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$50 - Donate a box of diapers, formula, and shoes or clothing to a Foster Care Family
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$100 - Deliver a new bike to a youth or teen
Donate
First, fill out this google form to let us know which organizations you would like to donate to, how many cards you need, etc.
Next, go to our "Give" page. Type in the total amount of money you would like to donate to the Alternative Christmas Market under "Amount." Click continue, enter your payment information, and click give to make your contribution. Someone will contact you to arrange the delivery of your Christmas cards. Thank you!
All donations must be received by December 1st.