Every December the Knights of Columbus join together and give struggling local families the opportunity to have a nice holiday dinner. The men of Council #1261 in Coos County volunteer annually to make Christmas food baskets. Jim Delong, a member of the Knights of Columbus, said the baskets contain food one would usually see at a Christmas dinner.

“Things you would expect to find at a typical holiday dinner including canned vegetables, nonperishable items and vouchers for meats,” Delong said.

The program has been around for 27 years. Each year, the amount of baskets made has increased since the beginning of the project. The amount of baskets that will be given this holiday season is predicted to be the most that they have ever produced.

“We’re looking at about 1,000 baskets. That’s more than we’ve ever done before,” Delong said.

The baskets are available to any family that came and signed up to receive one.