Lions Christmas Basket Program turns 64!

Everyone knows the elves at Santa’s Workshop are the ones behind the scene getting ready for the big day. That’s how it is with the Henryetta Lion Club Christmas Basket program.

 

Each year, hundreds of volunteers spring into action to accomplish the rewarding task of making sure the club’s signature project goes off without a hitch.

 

Even though the club membership has grown over recent years, the 46 members could not complete such a mammoth project without the help of the Henryetta community.

 

 “It’s a well-oiled machine with many moving parts,” Henryetta Lion President Jeanda Spurlock said. “I never realized the tremendous amount of work involved until I became a Lions Club member.”

 

Very few people know the true extent of the project; however, “Head Elf” Mary McAfee knows the extent all too well.

 

McAfee has an affiliation with the Henryetta Lions Club through her husband Ron who is a 60 year Henryetta Lions Club member. Mary, herself, has been heavily involved in the project for 35 years.

 

McAfee learned the ropes of the project from the late Katharyn Jean Smith, the mother of longtime member Donnie Smith and wife to longtime member the late Ernest Smith.

 

The Smith family has been involved the entire 64 years. The late Ernest Smith chaired the program since 1951 and did so for over 20 years.

 

Then Lion Donnie Smith followed in his father’s footsteps and was the general chairperson for over 15 years.

 

Mary McAfee worked along side Katharyn Jean Smith on many aspects of the project until McAfee began as the general chair in 2005.

 

“Originally, the club would gather old toys and take them to the fire department,” Lion Ron McAfee said. “The firemen would then repair and paint them and we would give them to the children unwrapped.”

 

“The toys would just be odds and ends,” Mary said. “We would refurbish bikes and anything that was donated.”

 

In the early 1980s, the club began buying leftover new toys from local merchants like Otasco at the end of the holiday season each year. . The club would store the toys until the following year. The club continued to buy from the local merchants until some opposition was raised from local residents who were upset they weren’t given the chance to buy the discounted toys. Then the club began purchasing the toys from the Dallas market through Pam Bealko’s business in the 1990’s.

 

 “Mary (McAfee) insisted we began wrapping the toys to give the children something to open on Christmas morning,” McAfee said. “So we have been wrapping gifts for over 30 years now.”

 

Longtime volunteer Gayle Machetta gathers “elves” each year to wrap each toy for each child. However, buying and wrapping toys is just the tip of the iceberg of this project.

 

Letters are mailed out each year requesting monetary donations to support the project. Lion Brent Jenson and his wife Kim mail those letters each year and collect the donations as they come in.

 

Money is also collected each year through “ringing the bell” at Henryetta’s Wal-Mart. Lion Mike Doak schedules bell ringers to begin the weekend of Thanksgiving and work each Saturday and Sunday until Christmas.

The budget for this project is usually about $23,000. Money collected through the letter campaign and bell ringing always goes toward the next year’s project.

Then applications are taken for Christmas basket recipients in early November each year. Those names are then sorted by family size to determine the amount of food each individual basket will receive.

 

Food drives are held throughout the community. In years past, the local schools have held contests between the grades to see who could bring the most items. Once those items have been collected then Lions Dr. Jeremy Johnson and Dirk Palmer make an order supplement from one of the local groceries.

 

Once all the canned food items are delivered. Volunteers sort the items. Last year, the Henryetta Nazarene Youth Group spent an entire evening sorting and organizing the canned items.

 

Then volunteers from all walks of life arrive to pack the baskets. Students from the National Honor Society, Girl Scouts, church groups, local business employees and more donate their time each year.

 

Then on delivery day, recipients either come by to pick up their basket or it gets delivered to the ones who are homebound. Workers from the Okmulgee County barn and pipe line workers from the local Union are prominent volunteers on delivery day. Of course, the Henryetta firemen direct traffic of the hundreds of vehicles bombarding the pickup site.

 

The local nursing home residents also receive a Christmas basket of items like warm slippers, tissues and lotion. Lion Tara Matthews oversees that portion of the project.

 

“It seems each year you hear a story about an individual giving back to the Christmas Basket project,” Lion Spurlock said. “Whether it’s donating their time to pack baskets or dropping $10 in the bell ringer’s basket, they always tell their story of how Lions helped them when they were down and out. And how now it’s their turn to pay it forward.”

 

“Being a part of this project definitely touches your heart,” Lion Spurlock said.