Over the weekend, 9,000 meals were packed to be delivered across Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Clarion and Lawrence counties.

To make this feat happen, more than 50 volunteers from Lions clubs in the region met at the Butler Blind Association to prepare the boxes with meals for area families.

The many hands made for light work with three assembly lines forming to package each type of meal.

Also on Saturday, cookies were baked and distributed for a cause at Butler, Saxonburg and East Brady locations.

The volunteers gathered at the Saxonburg event, held at the volunteer fire company, to raise money for the Knoch Music Boosters. The fundraiser supports upcoming trips and events.

Later that day, our staff was at the annual Christmas Cookie Walk organized by the Butler County Historical Society at the Senator Walter Lowrie House in Butler, too.

At this event, more than 3,000 cookies were sold. The event is the society’s biggest fundraiser of the year, and, like in the other events highlighted above, it is made possible by volunteers.

Those volunteers do seemingly simple things. They pass out cookies and show people through the Lowrie House, decorated for the holiday.

These seemingly simple tasks, however, make a big difference. We enjoy seeing how this weekend’s events help the community.

This holiday, we encourage you to seek out ways that you and your family can support events that support a local organization.

— TL