400 attend Shiloh Church’s great Christmas Giveaway

Photos by Ginny Kropf: Trellis Pore, pastor of Shiloh Church on Crandall Road in Albion, poses with Santa and Mrs. Claus at the Albion Elks Lodge, where his church had its first Family Gift Giveaway Saturday afternoon, at which an estimated 400 people attended.

ALBION – Christmas came early for hundreds of individuals who visited the Albion Elks Lodge Saturday afternoon, at the invitation of Shiloh Church.

In what promises to be an annual event, Shiloh Church presented its first Family Gift Giveaway, in which thousands of dollars of toys and gifts were given to anyone who showed up.

The event was the idea of Shiloh Church’s pastor Trellis Pore, who grew up in Albion and is now pastor of Shiloh Church on Crandall Road.

“After the response to this initial event, this will be an annual event,” Pore said. “We want to bring the community together and show the people Jesus loves them. My vision is this community needs a greater influence of true disciples. They need to know Jesus still has saving powers. I want the community back to how it used to be when I was a kid.”

Saturday’s event was posted on Facebook and people came from all over the area, including Batavia and Lockport. The event began at 3 p.m. and by 3:30 p.m., 300 people had come through the doors, bringing with them children of all ages.

Bobby Washington of Batavia brought his three children to the Family Gift Giveaway sponsored by Shiloh Church on Saturday afternoon. From left are Josiah and Serenity with their Grinch-painted faces, and sister Scarlet playing with her gift set.

Shiloh Church could not bear to see anyone, especially a child, go without a present on Christmas, and when the pastor announced what he wanted to do, the majority of church members went out and bought gifts of all kinds, Pore said.

A table stretching the length of the Elks Hall was filled with gifts and toys – from dolls, stuffed animals and action toys to toy vehicles, basketballs and games.

But the highlight of the event was a row of 25 new bicycles, to which the first children to arrive ran to. It was “first come, first served,” Pore said, and the early birds got their pick of a new bike.

When families entered the door, they registered their name, phone number and e-mail. The children got a ticket to go pick out one toy. The adults got a key chain with a Biblical verse and a sheet of basket raffle tickets. Items included in the raffle were large posters of Josh Allen, a larger-than-life smart TV, two smaller TVS, a vacuum cleaner, Keurig coffee maker, blender, several heated foot massagers, several air fryers, a crock pot, portable heater, lawn chairs and more.

(Left) Some of the 25 new bikes that were given away by Shiloh Church on Saturday are lined up in the Elks Lodge after being claimed by the first children to arrive. (Right) Jamie Bowers of Lockport helps her son, Colby Bair, 3, assemble part of the shark play set he chose as his free gift.

In addition to the giveaways, there was face painting and ornament making. Santa and Mrs. Claus were there to welcome the children.

A big supporter of Shiloh Church is Mike Ognibene, an automobile dealer and businessman from Oakfield who is also pastor of Overcome Christian Ministries.

“We met years ago when Trellis came to my gym in Oakfield and we’ve been friends ever since,” Ognibene said.

He praised Shiloh Church, saying he’d never seen a church like it. He began attending there shortly after they opened, and has been attending ever since.

“We’re here to make a difference,” Pore said. “A lasting difference.”

He also shared that Ognibene will be preaching the sermon at 11 a.m. next week at Shiloh Church and welcomes everyone to come and hear him.

Pore happily boasted Shiloh Church now has 50 active youth ages 5 to 17 in his church. In fact, his church has grown so much in the three years since he started it, they need to expand where they are or find bigger quarters, he said.