Shepherdstown Centennial Lions Club President Cheryl Roberts cuts wrapping paper to fit a present in Evolve on Tuesday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — “We did the Shepherdstown Christmas Parade, the Breakfast With Santa and then this,” said Shepherdstown Centennial Lions Club President Cheryl Roberts, in between wrapping community members’ presents for free in Evolve on Tuesday.

Topping those holiday events off, which add to the club’s already busy schedule, including managing the game day concession stand at Shepherd University, is a gift-giving opportunity culminating on Dec. 21.

“Barbara Burger and Sandy Brown and Peggy McKowen headed up this initiative, to provide gift baskets for local families in need,” Roberts said, mentioning the families most in need were identified by contacting Shepherdstown Shares, Shepherdstown Middle School and Asbury United Methodist Church. “We came up with 10 families, and initially said we’d support five at $200 a piece back in November. We found out some of these families have a lot of kids, so in our club’s breakfast meeting last Saturday, we made the motion to give gift baskets to the five other families we hadn’t funded originally. So now, that’s $2,000 instead of $1,000 going toward making sure these families have a good Christmas.”

Roberts noted that, while this is the gift basket initiative’s first year, the other Christmastime events are recurring ones, which have become annual events due to their positive results and reception from the community. Halfway through Tuesday afternoon, the club’s two-year-old gift wrapping event had already surpassed what it had accomplished in its first year, in terms of the number of presents wrapped and amount of donations collected. Similarly, the success of this year’s Breakfast With Santa at the Blue Moon Cafe surpassed that of last year, with 93 adults and 53 children in attendance, rather than 2021’s 58 adults and 33 children.

“Lions listen when you say, ‘We need . . .’ and they just say, ‘When?’ I’m in a lot of other organizations and you’re like, ‘Can you help with this?’ Most of the time their members respond, ‘Ah! I’m busy on Saturday!’ and if you say, ‘How about we change it to Tuesday?’ they’ll often say, ‘Uh, that’s not good either.’ So it’s a breath of fresh air to be able to have that different kind of spirit of giving and serving others,” Roberts said.

Shepherdstown Centennial Lions Club member Barbara Burger ties the ribbon on a package she wrapped for a customer in Evolve on Tuesday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston

Burger said she agreed wholeheartedly with Roberts.

“It’s really nice, that teamwork,” Burger said, as she tied a ribbon around a freshly wrapped present. “I love it!”

For more information, visit the Facebook Shepherdstown Centennial Lions Club or email sheplionsclub@gmail.com.