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In the spirit of giving

Heart to Heart volunteers prepare for distribution of gifts and food to 550 families

Photo by Jenny Kirk Board member Ben Alcorn asks if any of the West Side fourth graders recognize the student-decorated ornament as he holds it up during a tour of the Lyon County Heart to Heart operations on Thursday at the Marshall National Guard Armory.

MARSHALL — The spirit of giving was on full display this week at the Marshall National Guard Armory as hundreds of volunteers geared up for Lyon County Heart to Heart’s distribution day on Saturday, when more than 550 families will receive Christmas meals and gifts.

“I thoroughly enjoy volunteering,” Jim Noyes said. “Saturday is my favorite day. About 15 of us guys stand by the door and as they bring the food and presents over, we carry them out to the cars. Seeing those kids’ faces light up, that’s the coolest part. Having the gifts and food keep coming, that’s the best part.”

This year marks the local organization’s 33rd year of service and giving.

“We have over 550 families registered — that’s over 2,000 individuals and 900 gifts for children,” organizer Ben Alcorn said. “That’s pretty impressive. Lyon County Heart to Heart has been doing this since 1986.”

The six-day process has nearly been perfected because of the graciousness of all the volunteers.

“We love doing this, but it takes a lot of people,” board member JoAnn Chaplin said. “We do have a lot of volunteers. It goes smoothly because we have so many of the same volunteers who come back year after year. Some of them have been here 30-plus years, so they know what to do right away. And so many people have been donating, which is wonderful.”

On Thursday, Noyes was among a special group of farmers who have spent many years volunteering to box up food in preparation for distribution day.

“We have different family sizes put together,” Noyes said. “The bigger the family, the more food you put in the box. We get an assembly line going and it works great. There are soups, cereals, gravies — everything to make a complete meal. The turkeys will come on Saturday.”

The annual process started on Monday, when DuWayne Johnson and Cecil Naatz and Noyes took a Ryder truck and went around to different churches and businesses to pick up toy donations.

“We picked up all these toys and then a bunch of them come out of storage, like from the motorcycle run this summer and stuff that was left over from last year,” Noyes said. “Then after Christmas also, they’ll go buy a bunch of toys when they’re on sale and put them in storage for the next year, which makes a lot of sense.”

Volunteers typically do the toy shopping.

“We have several shopaholics who like to volunteer to purchase toys,” Lyon County Heart to Heart President Brandy Ricketts said. “They have kids, so they know what to get. And businesses like Runnings and Menards give us discounts.”

After the toys are brought back to the Armory on Monday, volunteers, including Holy Redeemer School eighth graders are there ready to assist.

“The Holy Redeemer eighth graders help unload, set up tables and sort toys by gender and age,” board member Holly Jo Boerboom said.

Along with separating and counting, Noyes said there’s wrapping that goes on.

“We have tons of wrapping paper,” he said. “It’s a huge process. Some volunteers come one day a week, while some come every day. It just depends on how much time people have.”

Rachel Kimpe, Heidi Mukomela and Carolyn VanKeulen were volunteer present wrappers on Thursday.

“It’s wonderful,” Kimpe said. “Heidi and I volunteered all day (Wednesday) and we’re here all day (Thursday). We’re very blessed. The company we work with gives us volunteer days, so we get to come and do this.”

Mukomela said U.S. Bank gives its employees 16 volunteer hours each year.

“So we come out here every year,” she said. “I love that the kids who come out are exposed to volunteering at a young age. They see how important it is to volunteer. And this takes thousands of hours.”

Kimpe said the best part is when the kids come out and they sing to them. Short tours were given to West Side fourth-grade students on Thursday.

“That’s our favorite part, when they sing to us,” Mukomela said. “They get to see what’s happening and how blessed they are and that others aren’t.”

Salah Abdirizak was among the fourth graders who asked good questions during the tours.

“It was so cute that one kid asked how old you have to be to work here,” Kimpe said. “It’s great that their brains are thinking about volunteering.”

Alcorn told the students that volunteers needed to be 18 unless they were accompanied by their parents.

“Fourth grade is such a good time to teach about generosity and giving,” Alcorn said. “And it’s great that they get to see their own work being shared.”

Students from West Side and Holy Redeemer contributed special ornaments for the cause.

“You guys gave us over 400 of these,” Alcorn said as he held an ornament high above his head. “We’re going to put these in all the boxes, so every family is going to put one of your ornaments on their tree. It’s makes you feel good to give, doesn’t it? It’s for a good cause.”

Prior to coming in the main Armory area, Alcorn engaged in conversation with the students regarding volunteerism and charity work.

“We’re a charity that donates things to people who need it,” he said. “Lyon County includes Taunton, Marshall, Tracy, Balaton, Minneota, Ghent and all those towns we serve. So we’re going to be giving out boxes of food to any family that asked for it. We’ll give them enough food to feed them three or four days over Christmas, to make sure there’s food on their table for the holiday and enough gifts for their children ages 0-18.”

Alcorn said the students would see more than 1,500 wrapped presents on tables in the Armory, adding that well over 400 volunteers will have helped support the mission over the course of the week.

“They are all donations, which means they have been given and we don’t ask for money in return,” he said. “On Saturday, all of these are going to be delivered or distributed. When we come in here (on Monday) this place is empty. Then when we leave on Saturday, it’s empty again. It’s pretty awesome to see the process. We get a lot of help from volunteers. They give thousands of hours of work.”

In addition to ornaments, area students also decorate bags for peanuts.

“The schools donate tree ornaments,” Chaplin said. “People sometimes donate craft supplies and then we take them to the schools for the students to make. We have some schools that decorate bags for the peanuts that we give families. Many of the people that come to volunteer also bring gifts or a gift of money. We don’t expect that, but it’s nice.”

Along with food and age-appropriate toys and gifts, families also receive items from the family table, such as quilts, blankets, shampoo, puzzles, books and cookware.

“The family table might be something elderly people would like,” Alcorn said. “A ton of businesses pitch in for this, like the (Marshall) Senior Woodworkers made handmade wood toys, shelves and jewelry boxes.”

About 160 quilts were sewed and donated by area church members.

“They sew all year long,” Chaplin said. “They love to do it and they love to donate. They’re a wonderful group of people.”

Boerboom said volunteers will make 145 deliveries this year, typically to homes where someone is elderly, disables or homebound.

“Mary and Eric Squires organize the deliveries for Tracy,” Boerboom said. “They’ve been phenomenal. There are about 35 families who are registered there. We reached out to them and asked them to man that area for us. The bulk of the volunteers are from Minnwest Bank and the Lion’s Club.”

Nearly 90 deliveries will be made in the Marshall area. Boerboom said First Lutheran Church organizes those.

“Tonya Tomasek is in charge of the Marshall deliveries,” she said. “There are also deliveries that need to be made in communities such as Ghent, Minneota and Balaton.”

Alcorn added that Pan-O-Gold donated bread through a local connection with Mike Swan, Marshall Hy-Vee gave large discounts, Turkey Valley Farms donated the turkeys and Reinhart Foodservice coordinated the truck with the freezer. While there are too many businesses, organizations and individuals to mention, Alcorn wanted to give a shout-out to the Armory for letting Heart to Heart “set up shop all week for no cost.”

While registration cards went out in October and had a cut-off date of Nov. 28, unregistered Lyon County families in need can come to the Armory at 1 p.m. for the opportunity to receive food and gifts.

“It’s on a first come, first service basis until we run out,” Alcorn said.

Noyes was quick to acknowledge that the board members do a great job.

“You have no idea how many hours they put in, especially behind the scenes,” he said.

Along with Alcorn, Boerboom, Chaplin, Naatz and Ricketts, board members are: Brad Strootman, Denise Schneekloff, Gretchen Flynn, Amanda Tykwinski and Jane Sovell.

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