The spirit of giving was evident in the Ortonville and Goodrich communities this holiday season.
In Ortonville, churches, businesses, schools, organizations, and residents came through with donations to the Ortonville Community Emergency Fund (OCEF).
A total of 147 families and 102 individuals at twelve group homes in the Brandon School District area were helped by donations of food, toys and personal items.
‘The community was extremely generous,? said Judy Henley, OCEF food pantry coordinator. ‘We had enough to help everyone who asked for help. It was amazing.?
Thanks to the generosity, OCEF has enough food in the pantry at St. Anne Catholic Church to get a good start to the new year, Henley said.
OCEF always welcomes cash and food donations and currently has a shortage of laundry and dish detergent as well as personal care items such as shampoo, conditioner and soap.
‘We appreciate donations throughout the year,? said Henley, adding Easter will be the next big distribution time for OCEF.
In the Goodrich area, approximately 30 families received a month’s supply of food through the food basket program organized by the Goodrich Lions Club.
Goodrich High School National Honor Society students collected canned and non-perishable food items for the effort, along with Goodrich Middle School and Reid Elementary, totalling more than 5,000 items, said Lions Past President Ken Nylander, who chairs the program with Emery Bennett.
United Methodist Men of Goodrich United Methodist Church donated apples and oranges for the baskets, and gave donations for holiday hams included in grocery gift certificates.
Lions fund-raisers held throughout the year help pay for the store certificates, beginning in April with the White Cane Drive, Lions mint sales in May, tickets for the annual Davison cash raffle’aided by the Ortonville Lions’and the Christmas tree sale.
This year 220 trees were sold, said Bennett.
Along with the holiday food donations, which Lions members and family spent hours sorting and packing, Lions fund-raisers also pay for three $1,000 scholarships, Goodrich holiday street decorations, and eyeglasses for those in need.
Holiday food basket donations, which are kept strictly confidential, showed a slight increase this year, Nylander said.
‘You could be laid off or have a family situation all of a sudden and need food. Especially if there are children in a family, we’d rather have us spend money on food.?