Onaway area Goodfellows to distribute good/gift packages
Christmas is a time of giving from the heart and the Onaway Area Goodfellows want to make sure it?s a special holiday for local families, that may not be as fortunate as others this time of year.
The local Goodfellows, in conjunction with the J.D. Tucker Pistol Club, Onaway businesses, local students and organizations, the Friends of the Library, and a small army of volunteers have been working diligently for weeks, and for some it has been months, preparing for distribution day, which will be conducted Saturday at St. Paul Hall. The Catholic Church has once again donated the space for the occasion.
ABOUT 80 families from Millersburg, Onaway, and Tower will benefit from the giveaway this year.
The Goodfellows will be distributing canned goods, meat vouchers from Carter?s and Tom?s IGA so families can purchase a turkey or ham for Christmas Day, along with wrapped Christmas presents for every child.
?All the kids will receive a gift of some kind,? said longtime Goodfellow coordinator Terry Materna.
The J.D. Tucker Pistol Club and Black Lake Sportsman?s Club has worked with the Goodfellows to ensure that the children, nearly 200 in all, will receive gifts. The group also did most of the wrapping.
PEOPLE IN the community also took part in purchasing presents by taking stockings off the tree at Carter?s.
Materna said the pyramid of items which has accumulated at St. Paul Hall will disappear fast Saturday when they open the doors for distribution at 10 a.m.
Included with the items are ?good clean clothes that have been donated,? Materna said, as well as library books from the Onaway Friends of the Library.