HEREABOUTS beth anspach
Each year at both Thanksgiving and at Christmas, the Huber Heights VFW Post 3283 helps make the holidays brighter by providing food baskets to needy families.
“We were able to help out 12 families at Christmas this year,” said Arthur Hanson, post commander and a member for 10 years. “People call and ask for help, and this year we were able to help everyone who needed it.”
For more than 20 years, the VFW post has been working on the project, designed to help families who might not otherwise have the means to buy a holiday dinner.
“We actually get enough food to last the families about a week,” said Ladies Auxiliary member, Brenda Peters, who has been helping with this program for 20 years. “We’ve had as many as 25 baskets in past years.”
According to Peters, the numbers are likely down because more agencies are working in the community to ensure that no family goes without gifts and food during the holiday season.
Huber Heights resident Josh Amburgey picked up a food basket for his grandmother, Patricia Andrews, who was accustomed to hosting her family at Christmas.
“It means a lot to her,” Amburgey said. “Without this program, she couldn’t have dinner with her family — a tradition for her.”
The VFW post works behind the scenes all year round helping out in the community, but during the holiday season, Jack Brankamp, past comander, said it’s even more important.
“The need is great in our area with all the unemployment and the economic downturn,” Brankamp said. “The holiday season is particularly hard on families in need. We pay for the food from money we’ve allocated throughout the year.”
The VFW builds its budget for programs like the food baskets and Toys for Kids through fundraisers and donations. The Kroger on Brandt Pike in Huber Heights helps by having the food ready for pickup.
Volunteers arrive to sort and ready the baskets for pickup on one day right before Christmas.
According to Buck Kiger, a VFW member, the volunteer group has numbered as many as to 25 in previous years.
“Sometimes churches call us,” Kiger said. “Because they run out of resources and can only help so many families. We take the overflow.”
Kiger and fellow VFW members, Brankamp, Hanson, Duane and Mary Skare, Peters and Christopher Parriman all helped with the baskets this year, loading each with a ham, potatoes, soups, pies, fruit, bread, rolls, butter, eggs and other essentials.
“Personally I get a lot of satisfaction having helped someone in need,” Skare said.
And for the first time this year, the members are helping one of their own, Michele Blake, a member of the Ladies Auxiliary. Blake lost her job four months ago and is raising two children on her own.
“It means a whole lot to us this year especially,” said Blake, who came with her son, Michael Huff, to pick up her basket “It’s been a very rough month for our family. I can make a good dinner for my kids now.”
Parriman, an Air Force retiree, joined the VFW about three years ago but said this was his first year to work on the food basket program.
“I think the program is a great way to give back,” Parriman said. “After all my years in the service, I can still feel like I’m helping in the community.”
Contact this columnist at (937) 475-8212 or banspach@woh.rr.com.
About the Author