Iola Elks delivered more than $5,000 worth of Christmas baskets to needy families in Iola and nearby towns.
“We spent $1,200 on food and another $4,000 on toys and clothes,” said Christina Ramirez, the lodge’s exalted ruler.
About $2,500 of the money came from the Polar Plunge Dec. 8 that had 22 hearty souls run into frigid Elks Lake in exchange for $100 donations. Money also was raised in a quilt raffle.
The benevolent effort is an annual event for the Elks.
“We’ve been doing the Christmas baskets from long before I got involved,” as a member of the lodge eight years ago, said Ramirez.
Recipients of 39 food boxes and 19 containing toys and clothes were decided by recommendations from Elks members, Hope Unlimited and the Iola Area Ministerial Association.
The food boxes came in two sizes, depending on the number of family members. Each contained a large ham, one gallon of milk, bacon, eggs, pie, bread and other fixings, plenty for breakfast and dinner on Christmas Day.
About 30 Elks members and friends gathered at the lodge shortly after noon Sunday to pack the boxes. Once filled, they were loaded in waiting delivery vehicles and most were in recipients’ hands by mid-afternoon.
The toy boxes were family specific, with each family’s children — age and gender — taken into consideration.
Elks spread holiday cheer
