2020 COVID Community Christmas Collaboration

CEC’s 2020 COVID COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS COLLABORATION

Windsor, VA December 2, 2020—Elevate Church and RECORE (a CEC subsidiary), two purpose-driven organizations in Windsor, Va are joining together once again to ELEVATE HOPE, an online auction to benefit families in need.  This announcement comes at a time when communities across the country are pulling together to reach those with critical needs from an already taxed giving base.  For every dollar raised through the online auction, RECORE will match it, up to $1000.  Elevate Church and RECORE have partnered in the past, and this year they felt a strong pull to work through the COVID19 challenge to support their community’s needs.

“Both of our organizations feel a deep sense of responsibility to our local communities, where so many of our employees and their families are based,” said Steve Harmon, Present and CEO of RECORE. “Just like Elevate Church, we are called during this critical time to do what we can to meet the unique challenges that our neighbors are facing.”

“Our Elevate Church team members have been working around the clock to make sure no one is going without this year,” said Pastor Thomas-Steele Carr of Elevate Church.  “We are grateful to partner with like-minded organizations, like RECORE and the CEC family to bring this auction to life.”

Both Elevate Church and RECORE relied heavily on their inside talents, starting back in October.  The RECORE team wanted to look for a ‘different’ way to conduct their holiday community collaboration-while keeping in mind all COVID19 limitations and zero contact plans.  In November, the online auction plan was confirmed and both teams hit the ground running to get items for the auction and to keep price points within an optimal range.  The community responded with an overwhelming item count—from an initial goal of 20 items to 38 items total—most ranging from $25 to $100 for initial bids. 

“There are so many families and neighbors in need right now, more than ever, and we at Elevate Church look forward to blessing people in our local community with the funds raised from this auction,” said Karla Cobb, a longtime member at Elevate Church.  She worked closely with Jessica Parr and RECORE to get the auction up and running.  “We are always blown away at the community response, and this year, despite the challenges, we knew there had to be a way to keep the giving going,” said Mrs. Parr, Manager of Communications.  

The auction went live this morning and will go through December 11, 2020 at 3pm.  All proceeds from the auction go directly to Elevate Church and they will work with community partners to disperse the funds to help those in need.  All winning bids are tax deductible. Bidders are encouraged to bring their generosity and giving spirits to the web this year, and help celebrate the season together as a community.  The link for the auction can be found here: https://www.32auctions.com/ElevateHOPE