Christmas came 10 days early for two-dozen families in the Lake Norman area, thanks to the North Mecklenburg club and its annual Christmas project.

Toys for more than 80 children in those families, and two big boxes of food for each family, were delivered by Rotarians from the North Mecklenburg and Lake Norman/Huntersville club on December 15.

The North Mecklenburg club prepares for this long-standing project all year long. Money collected at each meeting from the weekly Non-Raffle and "Health & Happiness" is designated for the project. This year that amounted to about $6,300. But that covers just a part of the cost.

In the past, the club has supplemented those funds with money raised in a mid-December "Golf for Food" tournament. To participate in the round of golf, entrants paid a cash fee, and donated two bags of groceries. But the vagaries of weather always made the event unpredictable.

This year, the club moved its event from the fairways to the lanes, and held its first ever “Bowling for Food” tournament. More than 90 bowlers, including members of the two clubs and their families, formed six-person teams of all ages and enjoyed a game of spirited competition sheltered from the wind and weather at a local bowling alley. The entry fee was just $50 for each team, as well as a bag of groceries per bowler. The event, organized by North Meck Rotarian Julie Mills, ended up raising an additional $2,000 in cash and groceries for the project.

North Mecklenburg Rotarians Joe Magee and Jane Ellithorpe initiated the Christmas project in 1989, the year the club was chartered. Club members Richard Wilson and John Cherry have spearheaded it since about 1996. Those two get the ball rolling each year by obtaining lists of needy families from local schools. The head of each household that benefits submits a list of childrens' shoe and clothing size, as well as the child's specific gift request. Wilson and Cherry give those lists to volunteer shoppers, who are authorized to spend $60 for each child on the list.

For the past couple of years, club members Richard Pappas, Callan Bryan and John Friguglietti have been hero shoppers, accepting lists for fully half of the children, and involving all their office workers in a giant shopping spree!

Everything came together at an abbreviated version of the club's regular meeting on December 15. The shoppers brought their bags of gifts and, members of the two clubs wrapped them all and put them back in carefully labeled bags for each family.

Other volunteers drove to a local mini storage facility that served as a staging area for the food. Those volunteers filled two banana boxes for each family with food that included a turkey and ham that Food Lion provided at preferred pricing. In addition to the two boxes for each needy families on the list, several boxes of non-perishable items were delivered to the Ada Jenkins Community Center food pantry.

Other volunteers then picked up the toy bags and the food boxes and delivered them to families all over north Mecklenburg. The families were notified of the delivery time so that they could be on hand to receive them.

In addition to brightening the holidays for families in need, Cherry noted that the project brings club members together. "It gives everyone a chance to get involved, and get in the Christmas spirit," he said. "It's an important project for us. It lets the community know that Rotary is going to make sure no child in need has anything less than a happy Christmas."

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