Everett Grab looks wide-eyed at the Good Cheer basket volunteers brought to his door on Saturday.
Surprise and gratitude were felt by 850 Johnson County households Saturday morning.
Volunteers fanned out across the county to deliver Good Cheer baskets to a record breaking number of houses during the 101st annual delivery.
Some families knew the baskets were coming, others were surprised that a local school or organization nominated them. Whether they asked for it or not, families were moved by the generosity of the donation. Their children looked on in awe at the holiday surprise.
The baskets contained essentials such as rice, pasta, canned foods, butter and bacon, along with some treats such as cookies and crackers. Each household also got eggs, milk, bread, a whole chicken and a bag of potatoes.
The holiday season, coupled with the expenses of everyday life, is a drain on bank accounts for many families across the county. This year, 850 families got a break when they needed it most.
“It is a blessing,” Kelli Winstead said. “It is (helpful during the holidays). Especially with the everyday struggles of the house itself. I appreciate it so much.”
Winstead’s children were just as glad to see the basket. They gathered at the door and excitedly helped her take the items from volunteers delivering them to her home.
This year, the baskets ease financial strain that is coming at families from all sides: the pandemic, inflation and other unexpected financial roadblocks.
“It is a wonderful way to end the season. Right now, during a difficult time, it helps bridge the gap. We are so grateful,” Kimberly Grab said. “It is one less thing I need to be worried about. The other bills can get paid.”
It is that gratitude that keeps volunteers coming back, they said. Despite outward appearances of wealth in Johnson County, more than 20,400 people are food insecure, including more than 7,500 children, according to an estimate from Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana.
The Good Cheer Fund’s mission to help with food insecurity during the holidays is what has motivated fund chairman Jake Sappenfield to give his time to the annual drive for 18 years, he said.
“I find it hard to believe that people can go hungry in our county, but that is the reality,” Sappenfield said. “This (drive) is the heart of Christmas.”
The baskets contain about a week’s worth of food for a couple, and several days of food for a family, he said.
Volunteers like Danny and Kristen Causey rose early to deliver food to families all over the county.
The Causeys delivered to nine families in Franklin, knocking on doors in a neighborhood near the Franklin Walmart in the pouring rain to spread Good Cheer. They were met by sleepy but smiling faces.
Danny Causey has been volunteering with the fund for five years, and wasn’t about to let the rain dampen his joy for delivering the baskets.
“Good Cheer Fund puts something that everyone needs right in their homes, especially people who might be down a little,” Danny Causey said. “Just because the holidays are happy for some people doesn’t mean it is for everyone else. It is when they need it the most, and it is an impressive amount of food.”
His wife, Kristen, joined him for the first time this year and was impressed by the scope of the operation after hearing about it secondhand.
“I’m blown away by how big of an operation it is,” Kristen Causey said. “I just had no idea. He would just go off on a Saturday morning and I had no idea what all it entailed.”
Before the deliveries, volunteers spent several days grocery shopping, picking up canned food collected at local schools and sorting food into baskets. Donations from the public were used to buy the groceries, and it was supplemented by donations collected at the schools, Sappenfield said.
Local schools stepped up this year. At Grassy Creek Elementary alone, the volunteer crew picked up 70 bushel baskets of canned food, Danny Causey said.
“The kids were so excited,” he said. “The fifth graders helped us with the baskets and two of them could barely lift one — it was so cute. Every year I’ve picked up at the schools beforehand. It is very rewarding to see the kids learn about this too, because it helps a lot in the community and it teaches children about the importance of charity.”
Volunteers at sites in Franklin, Greenwood and Edinburgh were out late Friday night and rose hours before the sun on Saturday to pack the last of the food into bushel baskets for an all-time high number of families across the county.
From the packers to delivery drivers, volunteers are proud to be part of the century-old tradition. Because of countless donors and volunteers, over that time, the drive has grown tremendously from the 110 families served during the inaugural drive. The 850 baskets delivered this year is up 50 from the past several years, when 800 baskets were distributed across the county.
Donations are still being accepted for the Good Cheer Fund until the end of the year. Checks can be mailed to the Daily Journal at P.O. Box 699, Franklin, IN 46131, or dropped off at the Daily Journal office, 30 S. Water Street, Suite A, in downtown Franklin.
