Never Too Little to Love Greatly

Meet Luke!! Luke has been a volunteer for several years…well most of his young life. He is 5 years old and truly puts his whole heart and so much joy into each basket he fills with his mom and his aunts. After filling baskets in 2021, this young boy set out in May to collect 100 items for Alleluia Baskets. He recruited friends and family members to join his mission. The items grew to the hundreds as the summer progressed. His mom and dad sent updates as the items kept arriving at their home. Besides the socks, cars, playdoh, jump ropes, bubbles, playing cards and so many more items, Luke received monetary donations and shopped for the best toys and bargains. When he shopped, he inspired managers of stores and other shoppers to contribute also. On Saturday, August 28th, Alleluia Baskets hosted a Service Day. Luke’s mom told us that they were coming with TWO CARS FULL!!! We were anxious to see Luke, as his smile is infectious and his heart is made of gold. We knew he had collected a few boxes already, but we were not prepared to learn that Luke had collected 1,086 items for the Easter baskets. He was so proud as he carried the boxes in with his parents, uncle and volunteers. You can see the love in his eyes and the joy in his smile. He is a true inspiration! 

Never Too Little to Love Greatly - The Next Chapter

Luke’s love is unceasing. He continues to give to others so they can smile. Luke met with Karen in late June 2022 to discuss a much larger project, bigger than anything he has done. He wanted to fill a tractor trailer full of items to put into the Easter baskets. After having a root beer float, it was decided to use the box trailer because the space Alleluia Baskets was renting at that time would not hold all the items the tractor trailer would hold. So, then it began! Luke had his plan of who to ask and how to acquire items, with the loving support of his parents. It did not take long, and their garage was filling with items, such as socks, book, baskets, and toys. Then the spare bedroom became full and well you get the idea, by the end of Fall the rooms were full of well-organized boxes with labels to indicate the number of items and description. A date had been set to bring the items on Presidents Day, February 20, 2023. On Sunday, February 19, Karen took the trailer to Flerlage home to begin to pack the items. An assembly line was created with 12 people. Grandpa was in the trailer to ensure proper stacking, so all would fit, Grandma was writing all the numbers to get a final count, and a few were passing boxes down the steps to everyone else was carrying boxes to the trailer.

The day was blessed with great weather and no snow on the ground. The process only took an hour or so, and Luke was elated to see all of it fit and that it was full! His goal had been met. He was quite excited to know there were 12,221 items in the trailer and each items was going to make someone happy. The next day, the trailer was being delivered on February 20th by Luke’s family to a group of 40 people waiting for them at the Alleluia Baskets location in O’Fallon, MO including Fox 2 News, Tim Ezell, the O’Fallon Fire District, volunteers and friends of Alleluia Baskets to help unload. Everyone was happy to be a part of what Luke accomplished knowing there would be thousands of children and senior adults blessed at Easter. His dad says this about Luke and why he desires to help others, “He loves people, loves seeing them happy.” Luke is a true advocate of Alleluia Baskets and the mission statement of bringing joy to others when they need it most. The smiles are priceless when the child or senior adult holds their basket and looks inside to realize they are loved and someone cares about them. Luke is on to his next chapter, we will be sharing that with you soon.