Othello Christmas baskets delivered on time, despite pandemic

OTHELLO — After more than 40 years, the volunteers who organize, assemble and distribute the Christmas baskets of food and other items in Othello have it down to a science.

The delivery drivers — also volunteers — traveled Saturday into the Adams County Fire District No. 5 fire station two at a time. As they rolled to a stop, the crew was ready.

Crew members swarmed over the vehicles, loading potatoes, onions, canned goods, apples, frozen foods, blankets and quilts and bags of toys. Each driver got instructions on what to leave at each house and what to do if the family wasn’t home. There were even two guys working the firehouse doors.

Once a vehicle was loaded and the driver had paperwork, the South Broadway Avenue door opened, drivers got a couple of last-minute items and went on their way. Once the bay was empty, the back door opened and two more vehicles rolled in.

Ken Johnson, one of the basket distribution organizers, said volunteers assembled about 420 baskets, including 20 destined for people living in a homeless encampment near town. The program delivered about 360 baskets each of the last few years, he said.

The Christmas baskets are a tradition in Othello that dates back to the mid-1970s. And while the COVID-19 outbreak meant a lot of changes in procedure, collecting and sorting the donations, distributing the baskets went on as scheduled.

Some crew members are veterans. Terry Thompson is a farmer, 55-year Othello resident, and Adams County commissioner.

“I’ve been doing this for 22 years,” he said as he loaded sacks of donated potatoes.

Others were new to the project, Alex Bountharath among them. Bountharath is the community relations manager at the Columbia Basin Health Association, and was one of a number of CBHA employees to volunteer. His job was running toys to the vehicles as they were loaded, and taking items that had been forgotten to drivers before they left. In his case, the running was literal.

“I got my workout for the day,” he said.

The baskets were delivered to families in need, and filled with food for the family and toys for the children. Families were recommended by local churches and schools. The limit is one basket per family.

Traditionally, the project involves most of the town of Othello, from students and staff at schools to churches and individuals. Usually, all of the work is done at the fire station, but things were different this year.

“It’s changed how we do things, completely,” said Johnson.

His business, Johnson Glass, was filled with toys and books, hats, gloves and quilts that were sorted by age and gender and bagged for each family. The food was sorted and boxed at the fire station, but due to restrictions on the number of people allowed in the building, volunteers had to make appointments for a shift.

But the crews and drivers were ready Saturday morning. Cars rolled in, loaded up with food and toys and rolled out.

“We’ve got a lot of newbies,” Lena Jenson said of the drivers.

Jenson’s job was to give drivers their directions and instructions.

Genaro Silva, owner of GGS Garage, was among the new drivers.

“We were involved last year,” he said of conducting a last-minute toy drive.

For 2020, he was a little more organized, he said, so decided to get a little more involved, and enlisted his friend Andrew Valdez to bring a second vehicle.

Jose Rincon and his wife Tabitha were newbies also, and for them it was a family affair.

“We’ve got our little baby with us,” Tabitha Rincon said.

Jose Rincon works at CBHA, heard about the project and decided to volunteer, which was part of giving back to the community, he said.

Johnson said that any toys left over are kept until the next year, and any leftover food is donated to the Othello Food Bank.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.