St. Vincent de Paul was gathering food for its Christmas basket program, which has nearly 120 families signed up. The Christmas basket program sees families get eggs, bread, butter and more.

“Each family gets a turkey or a ham and all of the fixings,” said Lisa Niemi, president of the Ishpeming St. Vincent de Paul Conference.

Niemi said that items for kids are much harder to get.

“What we found was that a lot of where we get our food from, those items are not readily available at a discounted price. It then becomes very expensive. Hence I called Kurt,” Niemi said. “I thought it was going to be a bag of oranges and apples, pancake mix and syrup.

Lisa Niemi, president of the Ishpeming St. Vincent de Paul Conference, at left, and Dan Perkins, founder of Partridge Creek Farm, stack fresh lettuce donated by Partridge Creek Farm. (Journal photo by Antonio Anderson)

Yet when called on, Ishpeming Lions Club president Kurt Kipling arrived later with a trailer stocked full of food.

“We got the butterworth elf syrup, some fun for the kids,” he said. “We have juice boxes for the kids, mac and cheese, every kid loves mac n cheese. There are cases of apples and cases of oranges.”

Partridge Creek Farm founder Dan Perkins also donated a harvest of fresh lettuce to donate to the families in need.

“It’s 40 bags, (that is) the standard amount you would buy of the pre-packaged stuff at the store,” Perkins said. “About seven ounces, and seven ounces is a lot of lettuce.”

“Fresh foods, especially produce, are hard to get and hard to store,” said Niemi. “So this is great, and our families are going to be so happy. They will be pumped. People are very generous this time of year. Per week we don’t know how many families are going to be coming in. I think last month, November, (there were) 122 families that came in. That’s not double families, those are 122 households in Ishpeming.”

With the large donation, St. Vincent de Paul will even have enough to give bigger families a bit more, as well as giving out personal care items.

“There are some bigger families with four or five children so we will give them a bit more,” said Niemi. “This year we also did personal care bags too, so every adult will get a bag with deodorant, shampoo, toothpaste and that sort of thing.”

Kipling was impressed with everyone involved in the process to get food to those who need it in Ishpeming.

“It is amazing how many volunteers come by from start to finish. Like a cog in a wheel,” Kipling said.

For the families in need to get the donated food, it passes from St. Vincent de Paul, which comes from the Ishpeming Lions Club and which ultimately stems from Super One in Negaunee. Super One is also providing St. Vincent de Paul with discounted dairy products and provided the Ishpeming Lions Club with discounts as well.

“I am not even sure how much this would cost at retail. They have been awfully good to us,” said Kipling.

The Ishpeming Lions Club has raised over $11,000 this past year, and the group starts trying to find good ways to give back to the community in the fall. With his time spent volunteering as Santa, Kipling noticed a lot of local families who could use some financial help. So when he got the phone call from Niemi about providing for underprivileged families for Christmas, he jumped at the opportunity.

“Some of these kids, as Santa, I see the kids come through with tattered shoes and it is one below (zero), you know. (Their) jacket (has) probably been handed down 10 times already, you see that boy and it really makes you wonder what that kid’s life is (like),” Kipling said.

Kipling and Niemi stressed the importance of donating and helping out the community. For those looking to donate, the St. Vincent de Paul Society Store in Ishpeming is open from 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. on Saturdays and closed on Sundays. Anyone looking to volunteer and join the Ishpeming Lions Club can reach the club on Facebook.