A Lion member wheeled a cart with about six boxes in it between two long tables laden with the various food items that were then added by other Lions members to the boxes as the cart was pushed through.  The line started with the flour and sugar and pushed to the end where a dozen eggs and two packs of rolls were laid on top of what were now 50-60 pound boxes of groceries.

The next step was to bring each of these boxes to two more lines of tables next to the loading bay in the coliseum where they were picked up by trucks or cars backing in.  Then these cars, usually with a driver and a navigator with a stack of papers bearing addresses and phone numbers for applicants to the Lions Holiday grocery gift program chosen on the basis of monthly income and number of dependents fanned out to their many destinations. 

Starting just after noon Monday, households mostly in Hope but some further out into Hempstead County began hearing knocks at their doors. A Lion member would then tote the box of food wherever he or she was told to. Set it on the table, on top of a stack of water bottles, on a kitchen counter or on the floor, they would be told. A yearly tradition that takes place after the Lions Christmas Auction was carried on yet again, and a few of our pictures provided below tell the tale.

This year the Lions gave out 120 boxes to that many households, a feat of fundraising and generosity but also, as is visible in our pictures, a whole lot of human labor. The deliveries extended until about 5:00 p.m. Monday evening.