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Toys and other gifts await packing into Rotary Club Christmas Baskets this year helping 513 needy Santa Paula families including about 1,800 children.
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Tons of food, toys for 1800 kids fill
513 Rotary Christmas Baskets
December 25, 2015
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
Six tons of canned goods and more than enough toys for up to 1,800 children were already packed Wednesday into 513 Santa Paula Rotary Club Christmas Baskets.
\“We’re ready to roll,” Christmas Eve morning when chickens will be added to the baskets said Rotarian Jason Cole, the 2015 Christmas Basket Program Chairman. “We are good to go…got it cranked out yesterday,” at the Community Center during a community marathon that lasted from about 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Cole said this year’s drive resulted in record numbers of donations from generous Santa Paulans.
“We’ve got between 12,000 and 13,000 pounds of canned goods, lots of dry goods,” including beans, rice, potatoes and pasta, and plenty of toys.
“We had a man show up at the Community Center Tuesday who dropped off 100 more toys,” said Cole. “We were already done but we packed them in…this year each child will get two gifts,” selected for their age and gender.
The local families that are the recipients of the annual Rotary Christmas Baskets are pre-screened for need.
The last step is Christmas Eve morning when at 6 a.m. the trucks are loaded and the baskets delivered by drivers and helpers using carefully mapped routes.
There will be plenty of stops said Cole with extra heavy baskets, actually sturdy cardboard boxes overflowing with food and gifts for the boys and girls.
“This year was a good one for donations…it’s kind of one of those things that has always shocked me at how many people are involved, different cliques as it were. It’s pretty special…”
Alex Flores, the Santa Paula High School agricultural teacher, Ag Academy Coordinator and advisor to the Future Farmers of America agreed.
FFA members collected mountains of food, “A collaborative effort with the high school wide collection effort. It’s the most we every collected from the teachers and the kids…it was very good.”
Flores was not sure how long the canned food collection has taken place but “I’m going on my 12th year and I think it had always been school wide, but the FFA has taken over both.”
This year aside from canned goods the drive also garnered cereals, pasta, “even some baby food and diapers,” he noted Wednesday.
“We had kids help out yesterday, took all the cans to the Community Center and helped unload and put boxes together. And, we’ll have kids go out there tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. to load boxes onto the trucks and help deliver them.”
Flores said the Rotary Christmas Basket Program is “One of the strongest, longtime community activities…the kids love participating in it especially because it’s for Santa Paula families. It’s a great opportunity for the kids to help out and give back,” to those close to home.
And it is a huge effort, “a lot of work,” said Cole, “hundreds of hours to put the baskets together…all the kids, the Rotary Interact Club, the FFA, other groups, put so much sweat equity in it. It’s pretty cool…”
With six tons of canned goods, 3,500 pounds of chicken, 5,000 pounds of potatoes and other goodies, it’s enough to feed a family for several days.
“Each family,” Cole noted, “is getting almost 70 pounds of food when it’s all said and done.”
All because of the holiday spirit shared by generous Santa Paulans and others to ensure all can celebrate Christmas.
“There are so many people involved it’s too many to thank…Rotarians yesterday were convinced this is the biggest year the club has had donation-wise for the Christmas Baskets.
“It just keeps getting bigger,” said Cole, “and we get it done…”
