HARPERSFIELD TOWNSHIP — The bounty took months to gather, but in just 20 minutes volunteers from Geneva area safety forces organized, packed and loaded boxes of food and gifts for 37 families in the annual Share-Christmas drive.
The volunteers moved from box to box at the Northwest Ambulance District headquarters, loading each with eggs, milk, bread, stuffing, pies and turkeys for the 20th annual holiday effort.
Fueled by donations from local businesses and residents, Share A Christmas, sponsored by the Geneva Area Safety Forces, gives large boxes of food, toys for each child and blankets for small children, to families in need.
“I was amazed,” Geneva Fire Chief Doug Starkey said. “Donations were actually up this year, and I think that really speaks about how people recognize the need locally.”
This year the drive benefits 37 families including 87 children and 62 adults for the holiday, Share A Christmas organizer Rhonda Baehr said.
Starkey said the help wouldn’t be possible without “significant and reliable community support. In fact, we were so fortunate in donations this year that we were able to buy more toys for the children.”
The safety forces use donations to purchase more goods for the food baskets. The money also is used for the hat and mittens program for children, which was instituted two years ago. Money donations are accepted at area safety-forces offices all through the year.
Starkey said local businesses line up to help with the yearly drive.
“We can’t talk about Share-A-Christmas and not mention Giant Eagle,” Starkey said. “They give so much.”
Starkey said Kiwanis Club of Geneva and Operation Food Basket also pitch in as major sponsors.
Police, firefighters and emergency medical technicians from Geneva, Geneva-on-the-Lake, Geneva Township, Harpersfield Township and NAD, along with their families, spent Monday evening packing and delivering the boxes. The volunteers bumped into each other in the crowded ambulance bays, as there were so many people on hand to help.
“Earlier today Rhonda asked me if I thought we would have enough people to help out,” Starkey said. “There is a lot going on tonight. We are missing part of the city Christmas party and everyone has other commitments and things to do, but they are still here.”
Cindy Stoltz and 4-year-old son R.J. Stoltz helped put cans of green beans into the big boxes.
“This is the first year we came in to help,” Stoltz said. “We had a blast and we will definitely come in again next year.”
R.J. said he is ready for Santa and a sleigh full of toys.
“I want a dirt bike and a snowmobile,” he said. “I am a fireman, just like my dad and we help people, so we are on the nice list.”
Stoltz said she will volunteer at the pasta dinner for the needy tonight at Ferrante’s Winery and Ristorante, where anyone who needs a hot meal is welcome. Food baskets will also be available.
Local News
Related Photos
Discussion
Geneva safety forces pack baskets for needy families families in need
- Local News
-
-
Driver avoids jail in deputy’s death
A Concord motorist avoided jail time Tuesday for her role in the June traffic death of Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Deputy Joseph DeFazio II.
-
Ashtabula City Council proclaims Cornelius Memorial Park
North Park was renamed Lance Cpl. Kevin Michael Cornelius Memorial Park at the Ashtabula City Council meeting Monday night.
-
Brant’s apple orchard, is an Ashtabula County destination
It was a family visit to an apple orchard more than 21 yeas ago that began the Brants’ own love affair with the apple.
-
Troopers uncover $50,000 in cocaine during traffic stop
Two Pennsylvania men are charged with aggravated drug trafficking and possession of cocaine after Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers found more than a pound of cocaine during a routine traffic stop in Kingsville Township on Monday evening, Lt. Mike Harmon said.
-
Infrastructure projects could be boon to county
Infrastructure projects, led by Ohio’s pending high-speed rail system, could kick-start manufacturing across the state, including plants in Ashtabula County, said U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-OH.
-
Authority, elected officials make case for Plant C grant
Ashtabula County Port Authority members, elected officials and representatives of industries that depend upon the authority’s Plant C for raw water pitched their case for a $1.5 million federal grant to U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Tuesday morning.
-
Ashtabula County turns 200 years old Jan. 11 2011
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first of a sIn just four months, Ashtabula County will turn 200 years old — the county was officially formed out of Trumbull County on Jan. 11, 1811.
eries looking at historic buildings and their stories. -
‘All Summer Long’ families head out to Geneva-on-the-Lake
Monday marked the unofficial end of summer. A day to sing Kid Rock’s, “All Summer Long,” for the partiers. The last day to wear white shoes for the fashion conscious.
-
Road construction goes on as summer ends
Labor Day may have been the unofficial last day of summer, but it was not the end of road construction in northeast Ohio.
-
Kister and Cassidy-Cousins work together to expand Medicine Shoppe
With plans for a new bigger building, complete with a drive-through window, a family-owned pharmacy is on the move.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Driver avoids jail in deputy’s death
