🌱 Patch AM: How one Montgomery church turned Christmas shopping into $20,700 for nonprofits

Cheers Montgomery! We’re back, helping you stay up to date with what’s happening. Let's take on the day together! ☕️️

In today's newsletter:

• How one Montgomery church turned Christmas shopping into $20,700 for nonprofits
• How a new $10 fee from Montgomery could affect students statewide
• What never-before-seen Rosa Parks photos reveal about Montgomery’s civil rights story

Also on today's calendar: Nutcracker Camp and 3 more events.

Today's riddle: Jimmy, did you crash on your bike again? You’ve lost a tooth! 🤔 (Answer below!)

From our Partner
Today's Montgomery Patch AM is brought to you in part by T-Mobile. Everyone deserves to be connected. That's why T-Mobile and UScellular have joined forces to connect people from big cities to small towns and everywhere in between. UScellular is now a part of T-Mobile. Find out more at T-Mobile.com/Better-Together.
Find a T-Mobile store near Montgomery.

Weather forecast:

• Sunday: Mostly sunny; breezy, cooler, with a high of 50 and low of 21 degrees.
• Monday: Chilly with plenty of sun, temps: high: 49, low: 26.
• Tuesday: Sunny much of the time, with a high of 57 and low of 35 degrees.

📰 News we're reading

1. UM News Digest - Dec. 12, 2025 (umnews.org) — First United Methodist Church in downtown Montgomery just wrapped up its annual Gift Hope event with record-breaking generosity, drawing the largest crowd in the program’s history. Shoppers donated more than $20,700 to local nonprofits, kicking off the 2025 holiday giving season with a big boost for community organizations that serve Montgomery residents.
   

2. Alabama community college trustees approve $10 fee increase (rocketcitynow.com) — Meeting in Montgomery, the Alabama Community College System board approved doubling its systemwide administrative fee from $10 to $20 starting Fall 2026. The change, expected to raise about $20,000, will fund centralized services meant to help local campuses focus more on student support while keeping overall community college costs comparatively low statewide.
   

3. Unseen photos of Rosa Parks made public (qconline.com) — Newly released photos of Rosa Parks, unveiled in Montgomery, shed fresh light on the woman whose refusal to give up her bus seat here helped ignite the Civil Rights Movement. The images, made public seven decades later, highlight lesser-known sides of Parks’ activism and invite Montgomery residents to reconsider how her legacy still shapes the city today.
   

4. See how much homes prices rose in Montgomery County recently (montgomeryadvertiser.com) — Montgomery County home prices jumped sharply in September, with the median sale hitting $225,000, up more than 38% from August and 27% from a year earlier. While prices climbed, the number of sales dipped slightly, and the piece also compares local trends with statewide Alabama housing data.
   

5. New southeast Alabama highway? Makes more sense than another project, Ainsworth claims (wtvy.com) — State leaders in Montgomery are clashing over which major highway projects deserve priority, with Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth blasting the West Alabama Corridor and pushing instead for a long-discussed Wiregrass Interstate Connector near Dothan. His criticism of the $730 million bond-funded Mobile–Tuscaloosa route could influence how future transportation dollars are steered across Alabama, including interstates that run through the Montgomery area.
   

📸 Around Montgomery

Show off your photography skills and the sights around town! Click here to submit your Photo of the Day to Patch AM!

🗓 Upcoming Events in Montgomery

Add your event to our calendar and newsletter!

Thursday December 18

• BASKETBALL JVG,JVB,VG,VB @BREW TECH
  BREW TECH Pike Road, AL 36064
  4:00 pm

Friday December 19

• JV/V WRESTLING @PELHAM
  PELHAM Pike Road, AL 36064
• BASKETBALL VB,JVB VS HANDLEY
  HANDLEY Pike Road, AL 36064
  1:30 pm

Saturday December 20

• BASKETBALL JVG,JVB @PRATTVILLE
  PRATTVILLE Pike Road, AL 36064
  4:00 pm

Monday December 22

• BASKETBALL VB @HOOVER
  HOOVER Pike Road, AL 36064
• Nutcracker Camp
  2960G Zelda Rd , Montgomery
  9:00 am

📣 Montgomery Shout Outs!

Want to say something great about someone in town? Click here to submit your Shout Out to Patch AM! It's free!

🗓 Events Nearby

Sunday December 14

• 18th Century Christmas
  112 S Main St , Millbrook
  8:30 pm

Tuesday December 16

• Zumba with Ashley T
  Wetumpka YMCA , 200 Red Eagle Rd , Wetumpka
  8:30 am
• Tuesdays with Kelly
  The Kelly Fitzpatrick Center for the Arts , 301 Hill St , Wetumpka
  12:00 pm

Wednesday December 17

• Wetumpka Middle vs Millbrook Middle
  Wetumpka Middle School , 1000 Micanopy St , Wetumpka
  4:30 pm

Thursday December 18

• The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
  Millbrook Theatre , 5720 Main St , Millbrook
  7:00 pm

Friday December 19

• Preschool Story Time
  Wetumpka, AL Calendar , 212 South Main Street , Wetumpka
  10:00 am

Have we missed something on our calendar? Add an event yourself! As always, before attending confirm event details to ensure accuracy.

Want to see your business here? Click here to connect with local customers.

💬 Chatter

What your neighbors are talking about on social media

• Lost dog in Sturbridge.
  He is safe with us for now, but I have two other dogs so I can’t keep him for long. (601) 818-3220. (Nextdoor Sturbridge)
• It’s such a beautiful life we’re living!!!!
  Through the ups & downs…. life has a way of panning out. Sometimes it isn’t the way you planned it. but it is beautiful and I’ve got a new sense of… (Nextdoor Arrowhead)

• Costco Wholesale Corporation posted a job opening for Stocker in Montgomery. Apply here.
• Tractor Supply posted a job opening for Team Member in Montgomery. Apply here. You can search for other jobs near Montgomery here.

Ok Montgomery! So now you're in the loop about what's happening today. Thanks for reading, and see you in your inbox next time! Oh -- and if you like what you're reading, invite a friend to Patch AM!

-- The Patch AM Team

P.S. The answer to today's riddle: I didn’t lose a tooth, Mom. It’s right here in my pocket.
Got a good riddle for PatchAM? Send it to us!

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