Santa Claus helps distribute gifts at the Lions Christmas giveaway Saturday afternoon. | Joy Haynes

The Falkville Lions Club provided toys and food for 41 families and 110 children Saturday during their annual Christmas giveaway at the Falkville Fire Department.

The giveaway has been a part of the community for close to 50 years, according to club president Terry Nappier.

“The Lioness Club started the Christmas giveaway as a community outreach project before my time nearly 50 years ago,” Nappier said. “After the Lioness Club merged with the Lions Club, they continued the tradition together. Each year we hold fundraisers through the golf tournament at Quail Creek and a turkey shoot. We also get support from local churches.”

The community churches previously held a singing and took up an offering benefitting the giveaway. Now the churches include the giveaway in their budget and plan to give every year.

Nappier said they also get a lot of toys from the M&M Auctions in Falkville.

“We get plenty of help from M&M Auctions,” Nappier said. “They will auction toys for a good price, and people can just drop them off at the bins right there on site. They really make it easier on us, and the kids end up getting some bigger and better toys.”

Preparation for the giveaway starts the last week in October. The Lions Club contacts the schools to get lists of families that might need help at Christmas. They gather the ages and genders of the children in the family and plan their toys accordingly. Families are also given wrapping paper to prepare their gifts for Christmas morning.

The Channel 48 Can-a-thon and a canned food drive at Falkville Elementary help supply the food the Lions distribute.

The Lions Club also takes donations of bikes and buys others from yard sales. These are fixed up and ready for parents to pick out when they arrive.

“We had 17 bikes this year, and we always are looking for more,” Nappier said. “New bikes are too expensive for us to buy, but we like to be able to give them a nice used when. We fix up the ones we get by changing tires or making other repairs, so that’s minimal cost compared to a new bike.”

The Lions have help distributing the gifts from clubs and organizations at Falkville High School each year. The Falkville FFA helped this year as they have in years past.

“We get help from the whole community to really make this work,” Nappier said. “We like to call it ‘Christmas for All Kids,’ but we wouldn’t be able to make that happen without all the help we receive.”