Letter to the editor: The Lord’s Cupboard thanks the community for support

To the Editor:

Once again, the spirit of giving time and energy was alive and well throughout Fairfield during the Lord's Cupboard of Jefferson Country Christmas Box distribution project. Over 470 families, consisting of over 1,000 people, were provided food for the holidays. The board of directors and staff of the Lord's Cupboard would like to extend our thanks to all those in our community that so willingly supported this project in some way that makes this project possible. The following thank you list helps everyone in our community see just how many hundreds of hands it takes and how much is involved to implement this project. Every single business, group, and individual is critical.

Thank you to Jan Fontana, Sally Johnston, and Ron Hunerdosse for their willingness to be team leaders throughout the four months of organization that this project requires. Special thanks to Ray Mottet for taking on a major role throughout the entire staging and implementation process. Thank you to the Fairfield Arts and Convention Center staff for allowing us to use the facility to stage, package and distribute the food boxes; Connelly Inc. for the use of trash receptacles and quick service throughout the project; Creative Edge for storing over 500 banana boxes; Dexter Laundry for providing a truck and manpower to move the banana boxes to the distribution site; Joe Carr for managing the massive amount of cardboard that is produced throughout the preparation and distribution of the boxes; Justin Clements for forklift support; Hill Phoenix for the cardboard inserts used with the banana boxes; Larry Bentler for candy bars for each family member receiving a box; Frontline Printing for the quick turnaround of time sensitive printing; Libertyville Savings Bank for support of the recipient mailing; Melvin Diehl and Rusty Muntz for their help and use of their enclosed trailers for transporting food to the distribution site and delivery of boxes; the Knights of Columbus, Jim Flinspach and Farm Bureau members, and many friends for your help in moving food from the Cupboard and staging the food in preparation of packing the boxes; a platoon of Hy-Vee staff who transported literally tons of food from the store and helping to stage it for distribution across two very early mornings; the National Guard team members who were a tremendous help in carrying food boxes for recipients, moving all remaining food and materials back to the Cupboard; and finally the multitude of volunteers that help prepare the banana boxes and food for packing, as well as all those that actually pack the boxes.

The Christmas Box project would not be possible without the very generous contributions of food and money from many churches, organizations, and individuals throughout the community.

Again, thank you and blessings to each and every one of you! Until next year!

Vicki Carr

Christmas Box Project Coordinator

The Lord's Cupboard of Jefferson County