Eagles Auxiliary Helps Rotary Christmas Food Baskets Feed Hundreds in Mahaska County
The Rotary Club of Oskaloosa and the Oskaloosa Eagles Auxiliary 276 worked together this holiday season to help families in Mahaska County enjoy a full Christmas meal. (photo provided)
The Rotary Club of Oskaloosa and the Oskaloosa Eagles Auxiliary 276 worked together this holiday season to help families in Mahaska County enjoy a full Christmas meal.
The Rotary Christmas Food Basket project has been running in Mahaska County for more than 30 years. The program is fully funded by donations from local individuals and businesses and is operated completely by volunteers. Each year, the baskets are given to low-income residents to make sure they have everything they need for a traditional holiday dinner.
This year, 250 applications were received and approved for the food baskets. Those baskets will help more than 700 people in the community. The baskets were scheduled to be handed out on Saturday, December 6.
To support the project, the Oskaloosa Eagles Auxiliary 276 held a Beef & Noodles lunch on Sunday, October 26. All of the proceeds from that meal were earmarked for the Rotary Christmas Food Basket project. Around 35 people attended the lunch.
From that event, the Eagles donated $200 of their own club funds and raised an additional $430 from the lunch, for a total of $630 going to the Rotary project.
Members of the Eagles Auxiliary who helped make the fundraiser possible include:
President Heather Thomas
Vice President Breanda Williams
Jr. Past President Kim Hol
Chaplain Vicki Witt
Conductor Mickie McBride
Secretary Nichole Gragg
Trustees Kathy VerSteeg, Nancy Witt, and Dara May
The Christmas Food Baskets are packed with items to help families prepare a full holiday meal. Each basket includes apples, oranges, celery, carrots, potatoes, eggs, milk, ham, butter, corn, green beans, sugar, flour, salt and pepper, pineapple, bread, macaroni and cheese, gravy mix, and cookie mix.
Both Rotary and the Eagles Auxiliary wanted to highlight how local clubs can work together to make a positive impact during the holidays. Their partnership helps stretch every donated dollar a little farther and brings some extra hope and comfort to families in need across Mahaska County.
