Weiser Elks give out food boxes

Published by admin on Fri, 12/28/2018 - 2:07pm

For the past seven years, the city of Weiser’s fire department has helped deliver Christmas food boxes around town for the Elks. The Elks have been making holidays brighter for local families with food boxes for at least 20 years. On Saturday, firemen Jerry Flannery, Kelly Brechbiel and River Franklin load up a fire engine for deliveries around town. Photo by Steve Lyon
By: 
Steve Lyon
Members of the Elks Lodge in Weiser spent a few hours on Friday filling boxes with food items to be given to local families who could use a little help during the holidays.
 The boxes were distributed on Saturday morning by Elks members, with assistance from a dozen firemen with Weiser City Fire and Rescue, Boy Scouts from Troop 350 and other volunteers. 
 The firemen brought a couple of fire engines to make deliveries around town. The fire department has been helping the Elks give out the food boxes for the past seven years, Lt. Pete Ney said. 
 The Elks have been giving out Christmas food boxes in Weiser for as long as any of the current members can remember – at least 20 years.
 Much of the food that was given away was purchased locally, like when Ridley’s had its case lot sale. There were canned vegetables, soup, tuna, ramen, boxes of mac and cheese, bags of rice, cookies, and much more. 
 Cale Harvey, who is in charge of the Christmas food baskets for the Weiser Elks, said most families will get three to four boxes each. The Elks wanted to give local families enough food for a couple of meals during the holidays, not just one meal.
 “There is a big variety of items,” Harvey said.
 Families on the Elks’ list also received other necessities, such as toothpaste, soap, napkins, paper towels and other household items, donated by the Indianhead Fly Fishers.
 The Elks were also given pairs of pajamas made by Grammies Jammies to include in the boxes for kids. Pat Davenport, who   founded Grammies Jammies, and a half-dozen volunteers sewed up a bunch of PJs for local families. 
 In addition to the food boxes, families also received a box that contained fresh produce like potatoes, onions and apples. 
 All the local packing houses either contribute produce to the Elks or give the Elks an incredible deal, members said.
 The Elks work with WICAP, a local social services organization, to get the names of families that could use the food boxes. There also are Elks members that suggest names of families that might need help. 
 One household that received food boxes on Saturday was displaced by the fire at the Wildwood apartments on Dec. 9. The residents of eight apartments were impacted by the fire and were forced to leave. 
 Even with the donations of food and other items, the Elks spend about $2,000 annually on the holiday food program.   
 All the time, trucks and gas that went into delivering the food was donated by volunteers.
 The Christmas food boxes effort is just one of the many community projects that the Elks are involved in every year.
 The Elks focus on youth, veterans and the needy in the community

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Signal American

18 E. Idaho St.
Weiser, ID 83672
PH: (208) 549-1717
FAX: (208) 549-1718
 

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