Most of Othello contributes to Christmas basket drive

OTHELLO - It started as an act of Christmas charity by a bunch of guys who knew some families that needed a hand. That was 1976, and in 1977 a few more people joined in, and over time, so did the guys at the Eagles, the Moose Lodge, the men and women in the fire department.

Oh, and so did the kids at McFarland Middle School, many of the churches in town, downtown business owners, the hospital, the clinic, the people who run the apple warehouses and the vegetable processors. Even some of the big corporations with outlets in town are part of it.

Well - actually, pretty much everybody in town is involved now. Food, toys, blankets, clothes, all fill the fire station, and volunteers spend the Saturday before Christmas delivering them.

"I'm really proud of Othello," Merritt Johnson said, who was one of those guys that accidentally started the Othello Community Christmas Baskets, back in 1976. "People say, 'Why do you stay in a small town?' This is why."

It's a way the town expresses "the true meaning of Christmas. And that's giving," Johnson said.

It started with a conversation among some guys who were all members of the Othello Eagles, Johnson said. "Six of us, 37 years ago. And we knew some families that were in need. So we decided to throw in $20 apiece and go buy some food."

They kept going the next year, and over time the Eagles Lodge got involved, and the Moose Lodge, then the Othello Fire Department. And it grew and continued growing, Johnson said.

The Christmas basket effort got so big it kind of overwhelmed the sponsoring clubs, Johnson said, so the organizers set up a nonprofit agency. The goal is to "try and get to people who are not going to have a Christmas, for one reason or another," he said. In 2012 that meant 287 Christmas baskets, with toys, food, warm hats and mittens, blankets.

The fire department donates space for storage, and volunteers set up shelves to keep all the donations sorted. And donations come in from everywhere.

The middle school holds a humongous food drive, which this year netted 2,717 cans, boxes and bags of food and $200 for more food and toys. "The junior high does the most collecting. They do a fantastic job for us," Johnson said.

Othello City Hall puts up a mitten tree. The quilting group at the Pilgrim Lutheran Church made and donated 18 quilts and 30 baby quilts for 2013, Johnson said. And that just scratches the surface. "School kids, scout troops, youth groups from the churches," Johnson said, the crews at the Othello Family Clinic and Othello Community Hospital. And still more.

The crew at Walmart "filled a truck every Friday night" with donations, Johnson said, and the local Pepsi distributor had a toy donation promotion. (A lot of people turned down the free soda pop, Johnson said, mostly interested in making the donation.)

Baskets are distributed through a referral process, Johnson said, with one basket per address. Volunteers from Othello pack and deliver the baskets.

That happens a few days before Christmas, this year on Dec. 21. "Saturday morning, this becomes a madhouse," Johnson said. "Organized chaos," Ken Johnson said, Merritt's nephew and a member of the nonprofit committee. "We'll have probably 50 volunteers," fixing food boxes, wrapping presents and filling cars and trucks with boxes for delivery, Ken Johnson said.

The job takes most of Saturday morning, Merritt Johnson said. Fire department volunteers make breakfast, then the work starts. Delivery can be quite an experience. "We've had people come back with tears in their eyes," he said, from seeing some of the families and learning their stories.

The volunteer pool includes people who once had need of a basket, Ken Johnson said. "We've had many families that have been recipients come back and help us," he said. Families who once got a basket have decided that, now that they can, they will help every year, he said.

"It makes you feel so great to live in this town," Merritt Johnson said.