Polson church gathers merchandise for those in need
Brent Bowman, of the Church of Latter Day Saints, talks with volunteers before they head out to collect items for a donation drive. (Ashley Fox/Lake County Leader)
Dorothy Gilmore, a clerk with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, checks a Christmas list Friday. Gilmore participated in Share the Spirit, gathering items purchased by funds raised by the Deputies Association. (Ashley Fox/Lake County Leader)
Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Clay Shoemaker bags items purchased for Share the Spirit. (Ashley Fox/Lake County Leader)
Floats lined up behind the Latter Day Saints Church in Polson last week for an annual food and clothing drive. (Photo provided)
Last week, children and adults scampered around Polson, giggling as they collected bags placed at residences the night before.
“Our church wanted to do something of a more community-wide program to involve youth,” Brent Bowman, a facilitator of the event of Latter Day Saints Church in Polson, said.
This marked the event’s seventh year, which is a collection of food, coats for children and gear collected to distribute to the homeless.After the drive, Bowman commented on the generosity of volunteers, giving time but also of those who donated, saying that there is “immense gratitude to all involved.”
Groups of volunteers placed fliers with information about the program that were attached to plastic bags throughout Polson on Tuesday, Dec. 11.
The next day, four teams of volunteers, along with law enforcement from Polson Police Department and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, and fire crew members from the Polson City Fire Department and Polson Rural, went around town collecting the donations.
“Labor, donation, everything is 100 percent donation,” Bowman said, adding “this is as non-profit as it can get.”
Bowman explained that volunteers met back later on Wednesday night at Polson Loaves and Fish, where teams weighed how many pounds of food they collected.
“There’s a friendly competition between each sleigh,” Bowman said.
Each year, he said that the goal weight to collect is about 4,000 pounds total.As of Monday, 3,100 pounds of food were collected, 75 coats for children and countless items for the homeless.
Coats and clothing that were donated were separated at LDS, where they were then disbursed in the greater Lake County area.
“We can guarantee 100 percent of the effort goes into the community and 100 percent of the donations go toward the community,” he confirmed.
Bowman did say if anything is damaged or has odor, “it goes to the garbage.”
Volunteers didn’t just take donations, but they also took time to hand out something for the holidays, as well.
Bowman said that while the four teams went door-to-door and felt or saw a family in need, each team had one available Christmas dinner to share.
The entire operation, Bowman said, is remembering to follow the steps of Jesus Christ.
“It’s about Jesus, and how he served.
For more information on how you get invovled and help the operation grow you can go to Super 1 Foods.
”To help LDS Church reach their 4,000-pound goal, two drop-off locations are set up through Friday, Dec. 22, at Super 1 Foods, 50331 U.S. Highway 93 in Polson, and the Jette Store, 44613 U.S. Highway 93, Polson.