PRESTON – This time of year the Preston Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and community volunteers were out in force over the weekend trying to spread Christmas cheer in many places in Southeast Idaho and Northern Utah. On Friday, Dec. 13, the lodge members and others, even children, loaded 190 Christmas food boxes on a semi-trailer that was distributed to the Soda Springs and Bancroft areas.
Jackie Anderson the force behind the Elks Christmas Box project inspects eggs before they are boxed and sent out to families on December Fri. 13, 2024.
In total, with Saturday, Dec. 14 deliveries, the Preston Elks Lodge sent over 660 Christmas boxes to Southeast Idaho homes, not only the Soda Springs area, but boxes of food will also be distributed to families in Malad, Richmond, Lewiston and Franklin County homes for the holidays.
Jackie Andersen, an Elks member, is the driving force behind the Christmas boxes.
She said there could be more people needing a box. The boxes include canned goods, both fruit and vegetable. Recipients also will get Gold Fish crackers, cookies, peanut butter bars, flour and sugar, eggs, smoked pork shoulder and more. The families also will receive hygiene kits with soap, shampoo, tooth brushes, soap and shampoo.
“We have had help from several church congregations, including from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Wards from Lewiston, Richmond Clifton, Preston and probably a few more,” she said. “We usually have more requests come in at the last minute and that will add to the total of families we are helping.”
Some of the area’s biggest food businesses step every year area to donate and help the cause. Andersen said Schreiber Foods, Gossner’s Food, Pepperidge Farms, Gilt Edge, Oakdale Farms, Stokes Market, Lower Foods, Presto Products, Gibbs Farms and Beutler Farms all help. And ConAgra in American Falls donates frozen potatoes.
Mike Oxx bushes boxes down the line to be loaded on Friday Dec. 13 2024.
“We need to give a special thanks to Preston Drug and Idaho Salvage that donated a significant amount of money,” Andersen said. “We also appreciate everyone who help in any way, and especially the volunteers that make this a success.”
The Preston Elks Lodge’s annual Father’s Day Demolition Derby helps fund their Christmas Basket program.
For over 60 years the service club has been helping families at Christmas time. It started with 10 or 15 Christmas baskets and has grown to hundreds. The Christmas program is the kind of thing that blesses the people they are serving, but also the many people involved in spreading holiday cheer.
The Elks Lodge usually sends out letters to all the businesses in the area to see if they would be willing to help. Even members of the Lodge dig deep into their pockets to make the program a success this year.
The commodities are gathered, stored and boxed at the lodge. By the time they are ready to organize the baskets the room will be filled over six feet high of food and there will be little room to stand.
In other years they have sent out as many as 807 baskets for families, but in the past few years they have been averaging closer to 700 boxes.
Volunteers arrive at the Preston Elks Lodge to help load a semi-trailer with food boxes headed for Soda Springs and Bancroft areas on Friday Dec. 13, 2024.
Delivering the boxes is no small task, some destinations take more than an hour, one way, to deliver.
The work starts the Monday before they deliver them, they separate the food. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday the baskets are assembled and on Saturday, as many as 100 drivers delivered baskets to homes where they are needed.