To help offset the cost of shipping shoeboxes full of gifts to children in need around the world, Shoestring Valley Community Church members have made 200 pies to sell at next weekend’s Onalaska Apple Harvest Festival.
“They’re really, really quality pies,” said Shoestring Valley Community Church member Laura Oien. “It’s an all butter crust. All of the fruits have been handpicked … It’s all fresh fruit that we use.”
The pies were frozen after they’re made so they can be sold and baked year-round. They will be sold for $30 each at the festival. Options include apple, peach, strawberry rhubarb, blueberry, apple-pear, triple berry and pumpkin pies.
This is the third year Shoestring Valley Community Church members have made and sold pies as a fundraiser for Operation Christmas Child, a ministry fostered by the Christian nonprofit Samaritan’s Purse “to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to children in need around the world,” according to the project website.
Churches that choose to take part in Operation Christmas Child pack shoeboxes with gifts of toys, school supplies and hygiene items to be sent to children in need around the world any time of the year.
“Those children, they have never seen anything so amazing like those boxes,” Oien said. “It’s just helping children in the world that have nothing.”
Shoestring Valley Community Church has been part of Operation Christmas Child for about 18 years. While the church started out packing and shipping about 100 boxes every year, Oien estimated that the church sent out 1,700 boxes last year.
While the items packed into the boxes are all community donations, each church is responsible for paying the $10 per box delivery cost.
“Last year, it was $17,800 that we had to raise,” Oien said.
Shoestring Valley Community Church first began selling pies, in addition to running other fundraisers, three years ago to help offset Operation Christmas Child shipping costs.
While church members sell the pies to congregation and community members at Thanksgiving and Christmas, they decided last year to get a booth at the Onalaska Apple Harvest Festival to sell pies to festival attendees.
They sold 35 pies at the Apple Harvest Festival last year, and hope to double that amount this year.
The pies will be available for sale from 9 a.m. until about 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 5, at a booth across the street from the Community Presbyterian Church of Onalaska on Carlisle Avenue.
Those who would like to buy a pie after the festival can arrange to do so by calling Shoestring Valley Community Church at 360-978-6184 and leaving a message.
For more information about Shoestring’s efforts through Operation Christmas Child and Samaritan’s Purse, contact coordinator Becky Jacobson at 360-880-2726.
For more information about Shoestring Valley Community Church and its upcoming events, visit https://svcchurch.com/.
Go to https://tinyurl.com/5azkw64m to learn more about Operation Christmas Child.
The Onalaska Apple Harvest Festival runs Thursday, Oct. 3, to Sunday, Oct. 6. Hosted by the Onalaska Alliance, this year’s festival has the theme “Show Your Roots.”
Along with a parade, vendors and entertainment, there will also be a pie contest. At 8:30 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 3, the apple pie contest will begin at Carlisle and Fourth avenues. Contestants can bring two pies and an entry form to enter. At 12:50 p.m., the pie auction will begin on the main stage. It costs $2 a bite to participate in public voting for people’s choice. Apple cider will also be for sale at the pie contest booth.
A full schedule is available on line at https://tinyurl.com/yjmrnxn8.
