Goodfellow edition helps area families

Starting Thursday, Dec. 5 through Saturday Dec. 7, members of the Oxford Lions Club will be out in full force selling Goodfellow newspapers. This is the local club’s 71st anniversary selling the Goodfellow edition.
Formed in 1947, the Oxford Lions Club has been helping area families ever since. According to long-time club member Charlie Garrard, this year 44 area families will be helped from the donations made through the sale. Proceeds will be used to create Christmas baskets filled with groceries (including a ham or turkey), clothing, gift cards and new toys for the community’s less fortunate folks. “We make sure everybody’s got something,” Garrard said.
This is the club’s largest fund-raising endeavor of the year. The Oxford Leader has donated papers every year “for decades” to help the Lions reach their goals. This year the Lions will have 1,000 copies of this Oxford Leader edition to sell.
Beneficiaries of the Goodfellow fund-raiser are referred by community members, Oxford-Orion FISH, the school district and Lake Orion’s Lions Club.
“It’s a little bit of this and a little bit of that,” Garrard said. “We don’t have to advertise, believe me.”
There’s no set price for a copy of the Goodfellow edition. People are encouraged to donate whatever they can spare.
“The average donation probably runs about $1 to $3,” Garrard said. “We get fives and tens. Once in a while you get a $20 bill. There are people who donate $50. It’s not very often, but it does happen.”
Garrard recalled he once received a $100 donation from a prominent executive in the auto industry and that gesture made his day. But the donations that touch his heart the most come from folks who appear to need every penny they have.
“You’d be surprised by some of the people that hand you money,” Garrard said. “You want to give it right back to them because they don’t look like they’ve got two nickels to rub together.”
Throughout the year, 90 percent of funds the Lions raise is put back into the community. They give scholarships to Oxford High School students, work with Michigan Eye Institute to provide eye glasses and eye screenings for area needy and, of course, they are big supporters of Leader Dogs for the Blind.
The Lions usually meet the first and third Thursday evenings of the month at Red Knapps American Grill. For more information about the Lions Club or how to join call either Garrard at 810-797-5840 or Treasurer Dave Morden at 248-628-1293.