If its December, it’s time for the Christmas Basket Program.
The chairmen Colin Smith, Don Westerfield, Jim Jung and Adam Thomasson have a very successful formula for this program. It is Time, Treasure, Talent and Team Work and delivering 224 Christmas Baskets to families in need in the city of Orange for a good Christmas is a piece of cake. This year, the guys coordinated countless hours of our volunteers to make it happen smoothly!
Again this year, the program saw an abundance of all four!
The Treasure came from the lodge members in raising over $8,500. The Time in collecting the food and gifts from the stores in Orange. The Talent in the new ideas to make this years project better than last years. The Team Work is our lodge members and their families in organizing the packing of the boxes, the matching of the family names and the routes to help deliver the food boxes, bikes and skateboards. The teamwork is the key to make it work! A few days before a crew assembled all of the cardboard boxes that were used.
The night before a cooking crew prepares ab Italian Dinner.
Our servers were a big help!
Before packing 224 Christmas Boxes, our helpers enjoyed an Italian dinner
Each family will receive two boxes of food and gift cards from a local supermarket totaling $35.00. In addition to the boxes, 49 skate boards and 25 bicycles were handed out.
Packing the boxes.
Dalton and Sarah helped hand out items that were included in the boxes.
Families were helping. L – R, Hunter, Holly Judy and Gillian.
One of our future Elks Bradley helped!
Sierra helped pick the bikes that were being donated.
The morning of the deliveries, our neighbors The 1888 Center and Contra Coffee provided coffee and donuts for the loading crew and the delivery people.
All the members agreed, The best part was seeing the reactions of families who received the baskets and the smiles of the children’s faces seeing their new bike!
Around the lodge at Christmas E.N.F means an “Extra Nice Feeling” and the B.P.O.E. really stands for the “Best People On Earth”!