Wrapping up Christmas is a joint effort for members of the Warwick Rotary Club and one accomplished with alacrity.

The objective is to pack 100 baskets that will go to needy families and individuals in time for Christmas. Orchestrating the endeavor is club vice president Dan Scanlon Jr. who has been at the helm for at least the past ten years. At one time the club received a roster of names and addresses from Westbay Community Action with members personally delivering a basket along with a turkey to the home. Today, the club delivers the baskets to the Westbay Marketplace in Buttonwoods where the recipients pick them up at their convenience. Stop & Shop gift cards are provided in place of the turkeys.

Scanlon is the wizard behind the curtain. He gathers the food, which is bought at the Stop & Shop; buys 100 cardboard boxes and arranged to have the Cooper Building on Sandy Lane open by 7:30 a.m. on Saturday. Club members arrive by 8 to take their jobs that start with arranging tables for the assembly line and stocking them with canned and boxed goods. Meanwhile, other members assemble boxes and slide them down the line before packing them in one of the members’ SUVs or trucks. Then the caravan leaves for Westbay where the completed baskets are stacked and a handful of gift cards are delivered.

Although not a race, Scanlon keeps a close watch on the time, announcing that the mission was completed in well under an hour. Yet, he had two more activities on his list. First, it was coffee at Dunkin Donuts for the crew and then it was to personally deliver the one box still in his truck to the woman who had called and said there was no way for her to get to the marketplace before Christmas.