Hundreds of children could see a brighter Christmas season through Rockton Lions Wimpy's Fund auction

Every year at Christmastime the Rockton Lions Club continues to give back through Wimpy’s Fund while making the Christmas season brighter for local families.

One of the ways this goal is reached is through the Wimpy's Fund. As a result of the Wimpy's Fund auction and other fundraising efforts, last year a record high of 134 families received an extra dose of Christmas cheer. Around 350 children were recipients of this caring act. Of these 18 families had four or more children in them.

Working with Rockton Lions delivery chair Tami Verstraete, numerous volunteers spend many hours in the week prior preparing for the delivery of food, toys, clothing, gifts and toiletries.

Money raised from these auctions is used to help around 100-300 families in Rockton, Roscoe, Shirland, South Beloit and Harrison. All names are referred by local schools and are also verified. Items that are received are based off of a list provided by the parents.

This year's auction opens with online bidding from December 5-7, with a live auction happening following the Lighted Christmas parade at the Rockton Christmas Walk on Saturday, Dec. 7. The live auction is bringing all of the fun by adding music provided by a DJ, raffles and wine pulls.

The site that will be used to run the event is Silent Auction Pro. Anyone who has bid in the past can login with their past login credentials. Or you can text 'G914' to 888-990-9876 to get the sign up link on your mobile device or computer. Then place a bid on awesome goods donated by various individuals, organizations and businesses.

Donations of baskets or other items are needed and welcome. Reach out through the Wimpy's Facebook page, or on Facebook Messenger, or contact a member if you want to donate something for the auction.

In addition to bidding on and collecting winning items, donations can given directly to the Lions Club through First National Bank and Trust, or they can be mailed to Rockton Lions Club, P.O. Box 90, Rockton, IL. 61072.

Wimpy's Fund began in memory of former Rockton police chief Everett Vaughn who served as chief from 1977-1981. He was given the nickname Wimpy based on the cartoon character in Popeye who walked the streets and carried a sandwich board.

As Vaughn was helping children cross the street, he would notice that some of the children didn’t have gloves, hats and socks.

He went one step further and took the mothers of those families shopping to buy clothing, groceries and one gift for each child in need. His wife Betty provided Christmas dinner for the families; over time they added toys into the mix.

Vaughn passed away in 1997 and his friend Jack Stewart took action in carrying on his legacy. Other Lions Club members have teamed up over the years to make the Christmas season special by carrying on this long time tradition.

Many hours go into preparing for the auction. Volunteers work for at least a month, with a weekly meeting to plan the next steps, and making phone calls to organize and gather donated items.

A group of core volunteers put the auction together led by co-chairs Terrie Garlow and Carol Wright. They gather donations and organize both the silent and live auction event. Many other Lions members lend a hand by donating or helping during the auction.

The overall process to make Wimpy's Fund come to life each year starts in October. Rockton Lions Club members and community volunteers spend a total of well over 200 hours of time on each Wimpy's Fund, including paperwork, communications with the schools, and other volunteer activities.

Volunteers for the delivery day are always too many to count. It is made up of a huge group of Lions members, people in the community, businesses, school districts and local churches. Rockton and Roscoe schools are key supporters of Wimpy's Fund.

Businesses display tags for community members to adopt a family, employees in those businesses lend a helping hand by adopting a family or through donations of gifts for families. Extra donations come in from churches, and schools with some also adopting a family.

Several organizations hold toy drives and donate those toys to Wimpy's Fund.

“Giving Trees" are another place where needed items are collected and donated.
Every year the Rockton Lions Club hosts Breakfast with Santa at the Rockton Christmas Walk. Funds from the breakfast also go toward Wimpy's Fund.

Future Wimpy's Fund hopes are to increase the giving of gift cards through a drive or in other ways to fill a teenager's wish list. This year, one company donated gift cards but more donations will gladly be accepted.

You can show support for local families this Christmas season by donating to the Lions Club Wimpy's Fund, or by participating in the auction, where you can find that one of a kind gift or basket for that special person on your list.