ARLINGTON – Teams of Arlington Rotary Club members fanned out throughout the Stilly Valley on Dec. 22 to deliver a record 86 Christmas dinner baskets to bring holiday cheer to families in need.

The annual Rotary community service project is the club’s way to make sure that families who are struggling through the holiday realize that they are not forgotten by others during the season of giving.

Club President Erik Granroth said taking food baskets to homes is one of the members’ favorite service projects because of the lives they touch, immediately and face to face.

“I like this service project for the good it does, the food it brings to families in need, and the impact it has on people in our small community,” he said.

Rotarians met at the Arlington Boys &Girls Club to assemble the baskets, which contained enough food for several meals.

Contents included full-sized hams, stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy, pasta, oranges, sparkling cider and plenty of canned foods.

Rotary got extra help with food basket preparation from members of the newly formed Interact Club, a youth sub-club of Rotary that got to experience the fulfillment of community service.

Individual Rotary members each year choose to sponsor one or more food baskets to provide a holiday meal for a family in Arlington or Darrington.

Rotary buys the ingredients, which were delivered in bulk by Grocery Outlet.

Grocery Outlet was extra generous, said Devin Brossard, Rotary’s food drive project coordinator

The grocer boxed everything, pre-checked the items and delivered them to the Boys &Girls Club.

They also added more donations to the total, which made for some heavy baskets.

Members filled baskets over a lunch meeting, and in groups delivered them to families Thursday afternoon.

Families in Arlington, Darrington and Oso are selected by the Arlington Food Bank. Senior citizens on fixed incomes are often among the mix of recipients.

The joy we brought to children and their families who received assistance this year can only be matched by the goodwill of everyone pitching in to help make the holiday basket another Rotary success.