The Crookston Community Christmas Food Basket Committee is busy preparing to help individuals and families in need this holiday season. Committee members Jerry and Jackie Lindsay are spreading the word on how people can benefit from the program and support its efforts.
The program had to evolve and change due to Covid. “We used to pack the boxes, get food from Hugo’s, Wal-Mart, and sixth-grade kids from all the schools in the town would purchase groceries and bring them, and we would sort them,” said Jerry Lindsey. “On a Friday night, we would put those foods into baskets depending on the size of the families,” Jerry says that there were many community people and churches involved. “Because of Covid, we had to stop that,” says Jerry. “We could have restarted it, but we decided to stay with the gift cards because people have allergies.” The Lindsays said that it seems more beneficial for people to shop themselves as they can choose things that everyone can eat and enjoy.
How do you sign up to get gift cards? Call 218-289-9039. The committee started taking calls on Sunday, December 1 and will continue to take calls through December 10 from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., “If they don’t pick up, they can’t answer the phone, or they are already on a call, just leave a message, and they will call you back,” said Jackie.
The Community Christmas Food Basket Committee asks that you only request one card per address/family. The cards will be mailed out the week before Christmas in time for the recipients to get out and do their shopping.
“If you would like to donate, we are always looking for monetary donations; you can just send a check to Trinity Lutheran and make a notation on the bottom that it is for the food baskets.” The address to which donations are sent is Trinity Lutheran Church, P.O. Box 598, Crookston, MN 56176.
