Jim (left) and Alexander Oestrike (right) help load up a car with a food box during the Three Rivers Lions Club’s annual food box and toy distribution event Saturday.
Dani Glass (left) and Abby Lemacks (right), members of the Three Rivers High School girls’ basketball team, help load up a bag full of children’s toys to be distributed as part of the Three Rivers Lions Club’s annual food box and toy distribution event Saturday.
By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
THREE RIVERS — By the time 8 a.m. rolled around Saturday morning, there was a tiny bit of a traffic backup on M-60 in Three Rivers between Sixth Avenue and Eighth Avenue.
It wasn’t due to a crash or a standard traffic jam, but rather it was a line of people and families waiting to receive food boxes and toys from the Three Rivers Lions Club as part of the club’s annual distribution day.
“It’s heartwarming to know kids are going to have a better Christmas than what they might have had, and they’re going to have food on the table,” Three Rivers Lions Club Past President Julie Mayuiers, who helped organize Saturday’s distribution, said.
According to Mayuiers, approximately 148 families in need signed up through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to receive food boxes, as well as 230 children who signed up to receive toys; some families received both food boxes and toys. About 180 food boxes were prepared in total for the distribution, with leftover boxes being donated, and 1,400 toys for kids of all ages were available to be distributed throughout the three-hour event.
Each food box given out by the club included various canned goods, apples from Corey Lake Orchards, potatoes from Walther Farms, cereal, and a $20 meat certificate from Harding’s Market.
While not all of those who signed up made it out to the club’s distribution for one reason or another, Mayuiers said it was still important to help out as many people that made it out.
“I think with the way the economy is right now, a lot of people aren’t working, and I think there’s a lot of people that this is really going to help them have a happier holiday,” Mayuiers said.
Those who signed up for the distribution were from all around the county and the surrounding area, including Three Rivers, Constantine, White Pigeon, Sturgis, Jones, Marcellus, and Centreville.
Assisting the effort Saturday were several Lions Club members, as well as several members of the Three Rivers High School girls’ basketball team, the latter of which helped gather toys for distribution inside the club. The team has helped out in this capacity for the last several years.
This year, however, will be the final year the St. Joseph County Marine Corps League will be assisting with collecting toys for distribution, as they will be disbanding due to dwindling membership. The group had assisted for the past 10 years with toy collection. Mayuiers said they will be looking into some extra help in collecting toys going forward, including getting some help from the Three Rivers Downtown Development Authority, who assisted with a toy drive of their own earlier this month.
“They stepped up this year and took four or five boxes of toys also,” Mayuiers said. “It was great, so I think we’re going to try to coordinate with them and a few more businesses.”
Steven Gary, paymaster of the Marine Corps League, said it was sad to not be able to assist with the toy distribution anymore, but in their final year they were able to spend $2,800 on toys at Meijer thanks to gift card donations from the grocery store.
“It’s been a little more difficult, because we had a high of 56 members, and now we have a low of two,” Gary said. “It’s still fun seeing the toys, fun seeing the people come through and knowing you’re helping the community out. That’s what the initial idea was. It’s been a good 10-year run.”
Mayuiers added the Lions Club may also attempt to partner with Menards to get food donations as well, given that she said donations from the schools were slightly down from previous years.
Overall, Mayuiers thanked the community for their support, adding that the distribution is all part of the Lions’ “We Serve” motto.
“It’s great to know we are able to do this with community support to get all this stuff,” Mayuiers said. “It’s what Lions do. We serve, and that’s what we do: we take care of our communities, and help each other, and help out those who are less fortunate.”
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@threeriversnews.com.