Santa holds two babies on his lap with three older children standing around him at the Mansfield Noon Optimist Club Adopt-A-Child event.
The Mansfield Noon Optimist Club Adopt-A-Child event on Dec. 14 included breakfast at the Mansfield Elks Club, as well as photos, gifts and books.

MANSFIELD — The Mansfield Noon Optimist Club has provided Christmas joy to Mansfield-area children for over 30 years.

This year, the club celebrated Christmas with 41 children and their parents. This joyous event took place on Dec. 14 at the Mansfield Elks Club. A total of 102 participants received breakfast and a visit with Santa and the Grinch.

Club member Kevin Zehe said the Adopt-A-Child events usually served around 20 children in previous years, but the club has doubled its support due to additional funds from the club’s capital campaign in 2022.

Bill and Gere Rea have coordinated the Adopt-A-Child event for many years. Optimist Club members purchase gifts for the children and presented them at the breakfast.

Vendor donations and support from the Reas also helped each child receive books, school supplies, hygiene products and a knapsack.

Volunteers knitted hats and scarves for the children and provided handmade quilts.

Bill and Gere Rea would like to thank all those organizations involved for their generous support  for the Adopt-A-Child Event.

This event could not have happened without the generous support from a variety of resources. Mansfield Noon Optimist Club, along with the Mansfield Optimist Foundation, provided the funds for the children’s gifts. The Mansfield Elks Club donated the meeting venue and breakfast.

The following vendors provided additional funds for gifts: Kingwood Center, Buckeye Imagination Museum, Wooster Brush Company, Altitude Trampoline Park, Mansfield area McDonald’s, and the Ohio Bird Sanctuary.