Rotary Christmas Food Project Plays Major Role In Holiday Cheer

Oskaloosa Middle School students help unload the trucks of food that went into the Rotary Christmas Dinner Boxes.

Oskaloosa, Iowa – The season of caring for your fellow man has arrived in Oskaloosa.

On Friday, Oskaloosa Middle School students along with volunteers from the Oskaloosa Rotary joined together to help prepare Christmas dinner packages for those less fortunate in our community.

Over 500 boxes of food were prepared, put together in assembly-line fashion.

Various size boxes are assembled. Smaller boxes for families of 1 or 2, with the largest size assembled for families that are 5 or more members.

To put the project into a perspective, nearly 2000 people, or almost 10% of the residents in Mahaska County, benefit from the annual program.

Andy Glover with the Oskaloosa Rotary has helped to lead up the project for the past six years.

Glover said that Rotary took over the project after the Human Resources Council initially started it nearly 30 years ago.

The Rotary collects donations earlier in the year to help offset the cost of the approximately $18,ooo bill for the project. The groceries are bought and delivered by the local grocery stores like Fareway and Hy-Vee, totaling 12 pallets of food.

Unloading and packaging all that food takes a lot of energy. That energy and enthusiasm is provided by some eager Oskaloosa Middle School students, who help unload and organize all of that food.

Grace Richardson said this was her third year of helping with the project and says this is something she enjoys being able to do. Richardson said she feels as though she is able to help positively impact people in her community by being a part of the project.

The boxes contain fresh fruit and produce, a variety of canned goods, and packaged items like stuffing and gelatin. Each basket also contains a ham, along with milk, eggs and bread.

Rotary volunteers and the Board of Realtors then assemble the baskets for distribution.

Recipients arrived at Central United Methodist church on Saturday from 8am til noon to pick up their boxes.

Glover said that all the effort and teamwork helps “everything really happen so fast. It goes out the door so quickly. Considering the amount of groceries we’re dealing with, it’s astonishing.”

Glover said that the Rotary is a little short on their fundraising effort for the year, and asked that those interested in wanting to contribute can do so by making a check to Oskaloosa Rotary, P.O. Box 222, Oskaloosa, Iowa 52577.