New Heights Baptist Church held a community pie drive at Newtown Community Center on Saturday, November 23.

Church members arrived at the building late Saturday morning, where they gathered in the meeting room connected to the kitchen to bake apple pies. Several people were situated at different tables throughout the room, each having different tasks to cover for the pie-baking process. Some people peeled apples over garbage cans, while others mixed different ingredients in bowls.

According to New Heights Baptist Church member Amy Jeanfaivre, who organized the event with her sister-in-law Callie Jeanfaivre, members of the church had been invited to share the names and addresses of local residents who currently need support and encouragement. She said that they also made a post on social media asking for the same thing. Amy added that she and Callie are on the outreach for the church, and work on different events throughout the year to reach out to the community. The community pie drive is just one of the many events they have to support those who might need it most, she said.

Whether someone is ill, lost someone dear to them, or are just having a rough time, Amy said the idea was to have someone deliver a pie to that person and also offer some encouragement via blessing. New Heights Baptist Church Pastor Zach Kinsman said the holidays can be a discouraging time of year for a lot of people, so this would be a way for someone to show them support.

“If they knew someone who needed the support, they could give us their information and we’d drop a pie off to show them a little love during the holiday season; be a bright spot for them,” Kinsman said.

Last weekend’s baking event was the conclusion of the first pie drive for New Heights, but Kinsman said he hopes it will continue. This year, he said, organizers received about 50 names of people to deliver pies to. Recipients were spread across Newtown and surrounding areas including Stamford, Trumbull, and Woodbury.

New Heights contacted Newtown Community Center to rent out the meeting room and kitchen for the event. Amy said she had reached out to Caraluzzi’s for help as well, and they donated a gift card to help with the costs of supplies for the event, such as apples and butter.

To Kinsman, the pie drive is an extension of the church’s efforts to support people in need and “be a light in the community.”

“As far as the message of our church, we really just want to be a bright spot in the community; to be a source of encouragement to people and show everyone the love of Christ,” Kinsman said. “The holidays can be rough for people, so we just want to be there for them.”

=====

Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.