Walmart associate Audra DeCamp (third from left) helps Louisiana Elks members (from left) Robert Brown, Shannon Reece and Adam Carpenter during the annual shopping event on Monday, Dec. 9.

PIKE COUNTY, Mo. – A total of 218 local families benefitted this Christmas season from the generosity of the Louisiana Elks Lodge #791 and their annual shopping event.

More than 400 children spent a total of $32,500 on new coats, shoes, shirts, pants and other clothing items during the shopping program on Monday, Dec. 9. Utilizing funding from the George Trimble Trust, the event was held by members of the Louisiana Elks at the Bowling Green Walmart Center.

The amount spent was about $4,000 more than last year, which is attributed to a very large application pool this year. More than 500 area children applied to the program. The annual project helps provide Pike County children with new clothing at Christmas.

The Elks were assisted by the professionals at Walmart and completed the project in near record time this year.

Trimble's bequest allows the Louisiana Elks Lodge to fund this clothing program, the Pike County food pantries, youth scholarships, and the Trimble House, as well as several other community projects.