COLUMBUS — Organized chaos.
That’s how Columbus firefighter and Columbus Firemen’s Cheer Fund Co-chairman Cory Hampton described Saturday’s 89th delivery day.
With a temporary headquarters in FairOaks Mall, as well as no overhead protection for cardboard gift boxes, long-time volunteers such as Mike Jaggers worried about the rain that was still falling an hour before deliveries began.
Jaggers, who lives in Columbus, said he remembered last year how steady and cold precipitation hampered deliveries for many volunteers
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
“If the boxes get a little bit wet, they just fall apart as you pick them up,” Jaggers said. “It’s hard to carry them, especially up a flight of stairs, when they get all wet and flimsy.”
But to everyone’s delight, the rain stopped less than an hour before the 8 a.m. deliveries got underway outside the former JC Penney store.
With an abundance of volunteers inside and outside, the last gift box was delivered at 9:44 a.m. — just a little over an hour-and-a-half after the first box was picked up.
Although nobody is sure that’s a record, organizers say it is the fastest delivery day that they can remember.
Families in need
As of Dec. 11, there were 1,056 Cheer Fund recipients, co-chairman Ben Noblitt said. That’s down from the 1,217 who received assistance on or before last year’s delivery day. Records show an average of 1,309 children have received Cheer Fund assistance annually over the past five years.
But the numbers are likely to go up. In the past, up to 200 additional kids, including many on a waiting list, received Cheer Fund assistance during the final week before Christmas, Hampton said.
In addition, two other Christmas assistance programs — the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program and the Lincoln-Central Neighborhood Family Center’s Angels of Love — experienced higher numbers than in the past.
So the Cheer Fund organizers say their lower numbers don’t necessarily mean less need in the community.
Getting prepared
For over a month, firefighters and volunteers have spent countless hours getting everything ready and marked, Noblitt said. That included all day both Thursday and Friday, he said.
On Friday, several rural volunteer fire departments picked up gift boxes that they later delivered in their areas. German Township firefighters, which includes the fast-growing Taylorsville area, received the most boxes.
When the deliveries started Saturday, several voices could be heard yelling out numbers, but Noblitt said all those voices were ensuring the right boxes, bicycles or oversize gifts were sent to the right families.
Columbus Fire Chief Andy Lay said everything went remarkably smooth on Saturday, and should go even smoother next year when the Cheer Fund has its own permanent headquarters off Verhulst St.
But former fire chief Mike Compton said the smooth operation on Saturday was not surprising when you consider firefighters and medics encounter unexpected challenges on every run they make.
Santa’s helpers
Many of the volunteer drivers displayed a festive holiday spirit Saturday. For example, Brena Sutton of Columbus and her 17-year-old daughter, Brooklyn, decked out their 3-year-old dog, Ellie. The Pug Pomeranian mix was dressed up in her own special Christmas outfit.
Long-time volunteers working inside the temporary headquarters included Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame sportscaster Sam Simmermaker, who has been active with the charity since 1976.
“The Cheer Fund has just mushroomed over the years — not only in donations, but also in interest turnout,” Simmermaker said. “While they have more help than they need, that’s a good thing.”
Another long-time volunteer is Kathy Dwyer. The wife of 40-year firefighter David Dwyer said her reasons to volunteer for the Cheer Fund go back to her childhood.
Kathy Dwyer recalled that when she was a child, her construction worker father was often unemployed during the holidays, and her mother didn’t have a job. Although there was one year when the family ate bologna sandwiches for a Christmas meal, Dwyer said her parents made sure there were always presents under the tree. She didn’t realize until she had her own family all the sacrifices that her parents made for their children.
“When you grow up that way, you want to give as much as you can to those in need,” Dwyer said.
And then, there were also first-time volunteers on Saturday including Mark Johnson, a computer-aided draftsman for Faurecia.
After taking his girlfriend, Becca Allman, and their two children on a cruise to Bermuda, Johnson said he and his family felt they had spent enough on themselves. With the encouragement of friends on the fire department, the couple and their kids — Brookley Allman, 11, and Oliver Johnson, 4 — made three deliveries on Saturday.
Worthy recipients
One delivery made by the family was to the home of Troy Wombles, a retiree living in Candlelight Village who is raising 8-year-old twin grandchildren. Their gift boxes were delivered just two weeks after the death of the twins’ step-grandmother, Wombles said.
Despite the challenges he faces, Wombles said the Cheer Fund has helped to brighten spirits a bit within his family.
“Everybody is worried about themselves, and I hear others say nobody wants to help anyone anymore,” Wombles said. “But if others would look at how many help the Cheer Fund, they would be surprised. It would help them have more faith in their fellow man.”
After that delivery, Becca Allman said she was taken back by how the retired grandfather is handling his challenges and responsibilities.
“He (Wombles) seems so grateful,” Allman said. “His story shows there is a need, and I believe he’s very deserving.”
First in line
One of the long-time Cheer Fund traditions is to give special acknowledgement to the first person in line to deliver gifts. Up through 2017, Jeff and Chanda Tobias maintained those bragging rights for seven consecutive years before they moved out-of-state.
Last year, Jeff and Kathy Ownbey of Westport got the honors, just ahead of Jaggers. This year, Randy and Shannon Krebbs of Columbus were the first of an estimated 150 volunteer drivers in line. Jaggers, who is Kathy Ownbey’s father, was right behind them in second place.
Jaggers and his daughter, who have volunteered for the Cheer Fund together for more than 20 years, say bragging rights isn’t something that gives them satisfaction.
“When you watch the faces of kids smile and light up when you deliver their package, you know what you are bringing might be the only gifts they receive,” Jaggers said. “That’s the joy of the Cheer Fund right there.”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”By the numbers” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Founded: 1930
Gift boxes delivered Friday and Saturday: 1,056
Gift boxes delivered last year: 1,217
Five-year average for gift boxes delivered from 2013 through 2017: 1,309
Boxes that could not be delivered Saturday because nobody was home: 5.
Volunteer drivers: 150 (estimate)
[sc:pullout-text-end]
