BROWNSTOWN — A nearly 100-year-old program that provides food, toys, toiletries and other items to families in need at Christmastime went off over the past couple of days with little fanfare.

A record number of baskets of perishable and nonperishable food items along with toiletries and other items were prepared this year for the Brownstown Christmas Cheer program.

“We have 150 families, which is more than we have ever had,” longtime organizer Gloria Cross said Thursday as the effort to organize those baskets started coming together in the basement of Brownstown Christian Church.

The baskets were delivered throughout the community by volunteers Friday.

In 2022, 140 baskets were put together and delivered.

The baskets included food purchased by the program with monetary donations received throughout the year and put in an account at The Peoples Bank in Brownstown.

Cross said different groups complete different tasks to ensure everything comes together each year.

The effort includes students from all three schools within Brownstown Central Community School Corp.

Students at Brownstown Elementary School collected 7,734 canned goods for the program, while Brownstown Central Middle School students raised $5,100 to purchase toys for 225 kids.

Members of the Brownstown Central High School FFA chapter and other students over the years have been involved with Brownstown Christmas Cheer since at least the early 1960s when Bob Myers was the adviser.

Students from Nancy Manuel’s nutrition classes, the Jobs for America’s Graduates program and others also have helped out in recent years by putting together fruit baskets for those in need of a little Christmas cheer in a separate project.

Those fruit baskets are delivered to shut-ins, those who have lost a loved one this year or have another special need. The fruit baskets are picked up by people who know of someone in need.

Sophomore Trey Spaulding said he enjoyed helping put together the fruit baskets and helping out the community. It also was a bonus to get out of class for a little while, he said.

Some of the high-schoolers assisted with unloading supplies and helping prepare the baskets, which included two boxes packed with nonperishable items. A bag for the perishable items, including eggs donated by Rose Acre Farms, milk, butter, hot dogs and other items, along with a bag containing toiletries and hygiene products also were put together and included in the basket for each of the 150 families or individuals.

Members of the Brownstown Exchange Club, such as Joe Reynolds, have been helping out for years by delivering the canned goods collected by the elementary school students from the school to Brownstown Christian Church.

Reynolds also stayed around after completing that task to put together the 300 boxes donated by Rose Acre Farms for the foodstuffs needed for the 150 families.

“I just had a little extra time,” he said. “I have helped do this before (putting together the boxes), so I kind of knew how to do it.”

He said the Exchange Club is all about giving back to the community.

“It’s just one of the projects we have done for many years,” Reynolds said. “It’s a great thing for the community.”

Pam Thompson, treasurer of Brownstown Christmas Cheer, was helping Reynolds.

“We couldn’t do it without everybody’s help,” she said.

Cross said she can remember when the program was operated out of the ag shop at the high school.

Used toys were donated at that time and were cleaned up by a local woman, Cross said.

“That was in the very, very early days,” she said.

According to the Dec. 23, 1931, edition of The Banner, volunteers with Brownstown Christmas Cheer Association prepared baskets and delivered nearly 75 filled with perishable and nonperishable food and clothing items.

The Methodist church parish served as the headquarters for the project, and eight trucks owned by firms and individuals were used to deliver the baskets. Each truck was assigned to one of the eight districts in which the town had been divided, and two Boy Scouts accompanied each truck, according to Fred Nuss.

Nuss, the general chairman, said the cooperation and help, which had been extended by all who were asked to give of their time, was given with great pleasure and made possible the carrying out of the extensive program of the cheer association.

That cooperation, which has continued over the past nine decades, continues today.