Fulfilling its motto of "We Serve," the Christiana Lions Club recently completed a collection drive for residents of Kentucky who were impacted by a devastating tornado in December.

Working with a Lions Club in Hopkinsville, Ky., the Christiana club was able to put together a list of needed items, such as flashlights, batteries and work gloves, which the community was invited to donate. Additionally, nonperishable food was collected by Lions Club members at Dutch-Way Farm Market in Gap.

All of the donations were sorted and placed in boxes by volunteers at the Christiana Lions Club building. The boxes were then loaded onto trailers and brought to Lowe's of Morgantown, where Lowe's employees put the donations on pallets and wrapped them in plastic.

Forklift operators from Lowe's, including store manager Dawn Madara, loaded the boxes onto a 53-foot Lions Club tractor-trailer, which was "wrapped" with the Pennsylvania Lions Club logo and the statement "Pennsylvania Lions - Serving Our Communities Since 1923."

Lowe's contributed to the effort by donating supplies and offering a discount on items purchased at the store by the Lions Club.

In addition to Lions from Christiana, other volunteers on hand were members of the Parkesburg Lions Club and the Ephrata Lions Club.

"There were skids of generators, kerosene heaters, rakes and shovels and heavy-duty tarps - all kinds of items other than just boxes of food," explained Christiana Lions Club member Ed Baylor, assistant Pennsylvania Lions disaster relief coordinator. He noted that the volunteers and employees all worked together on a morning when the temperature was only 17 degrees.

After Morgantown, the truck made a stop at the Lions Club state office in Harrisburg. A second tractor-trailer was needed to collect additional supplies in Cranberry Township near Pittsburgh before both vehicles headed to Kentucky.

In addition to collecting food, supplies and monetary donations, Lions Club members from throughout Pennsylvania are currently working in Kentucky to help with relief efforts.

"It's amazing how the Pennsylvania Lions stepped up to the plate and got supplies and donations," Baylor said. "Jim Groff, (Pennsylvania Lions disaster relief coordinator), who was in Joplin after the tornado, said this (collection effort) is the biggest he has ever seen."

For more information about the Christiana Lions Club and to view additional photos of the donations, as well as Pennsylvania Lions working in Kentucky, visit http://www.facebook.com/ChristianaLionsClub.