Lions Club feeds 20 families
Donated food baskets annual effort to help area
By SHANNON CRABTREE scrabtree@leader-news.com

A pride of Lions in a feeding frenzy added to El Campo's holiday festivities last week.

As a result, 20 families will be eating well for weeks to come.

The El Campo Lions Club's annual Christmas food basket distribution took place Tu e sd a y, Dec. 17, with a group of volunteers rising early to collect a trailerload of food from H-E-B.

"We contacted the school and got a list of families that could use the help. We also contacted the Blessing Cup," Event Chairman Andy Waligura said. "We went through those lists and tried to accommodate all on both."

The Lions Club program has been in existence more than 20 years, although it's typically done on a very small scale.

"This year, we decided to expand the Christmas gift boxes. Last year we did 15. This year did 20," Waligura said.

Each family - ranging from three to 11 in the household - received $149.71 in food and support. To help with the cost, H-E-B cut $500 off the grocery bill.A

$50 gift card was included to cover perishables like milk and meat, leaving $99.71 for food staples.

What can you get for that?

Each box contained: 36 cans of green beans, 24 cans of corn, 12 cans of canned fruit, 96 packages of Ramen noodles, 15 pounds of potatoes, six bags of rice, 8 pounds of pinto beans, 10 pounds of sugar and flour, three bottles of salt, one of pepper, 2 pounds of peanut butter, three boxes of crackers and vanilla wafers, two boxes of oatmeal, five boxes of hamburger helper, 10 boxes of macaroni and cheese, two cans of Crisco and, last but not least, two large bags of cereal.

"Depending on the size of the family, this should carry them through the holidays. And it may carry them through the new year," Waligura said.

H-E-B El Campo credited the club $500 on its $3,000 grocery bill.