BUCYRUS—A group of Bucyrus women are “wrapping up” their yearlong project to provide gifts for needy children this Christmas.
Every month, they have had a mission – prepare and deliver hundreds of fresh submarine sandwiches to local businesses in time for the lunch hour—five dollars a sandwich, with proceeds to benefit families less fortunate during the holidays.
They’re the “Sub Ladies.”
“It makes me know that a child that might not have had anything that they will at least get something,” said Ruth Van Buskirk, the 82-year-old organizer of the sub-assembly line. “Sometimes that’s all some of them get, and that makes it worth it all.”
Van Buskirk said this year’s project raised $4,305, which exceeded their $4,000 goal. Now the ladies are using 100-percent of the profits to buy clothes, toys, and goodie bags for 54 area children, with pickup scheduled for Dec. 12 at Bucyrus City Hall.
Van Buskirk, who used to run a catering business, is the brainchild of the operation. She has help from her daughter, Kimberly Van Buskirk, and the rest of the gang – retirees Sue Ballard, Cheryl Campbell, Tammie Musser, and Shenea Roberts.
They have a routine.
And it starts at 5:00 a.m. at Van Buskirk’s rural Bucyrus home, where she has a separate building equipped with a kitchen. Sliced deli meats and cheeses are picked up the night before. Eight-inch hoagie buns are delivered fresh that morning.
They only sell four varieties, starting with a basic ham and cheese. The sandwiches are packaged and tied in clear plastic bags, with lettuce wrapped separately. Deliveries go out by noon to banks, funeral homes, and factories in Crawford and Wyandot Counties.
Van Buskirk said they have their regular customers, like Bridgestone APM Co. in Upper Sandusky, where her daughter works. The company usually orders 100 subs every month, she said, and will also be a pickup location for Wyandot County families on Dec. 5.
The fund-raiser, now in its second year, brightened the holidays for 30 children last year, Van Buskirk said. Names and wish lists are solicited from the Bucyrus City Schools, but this year part of the proceeds are also being used to buy gifts for eight elderly residents recommended by the Council on Aging, she said.
The kitchen crew will take a break in January and return in February with a new goal for 2022 – $5,000.
Because there’s no “SUB-stitute” for making Christmas wishes come true and changing lives for the better.
“God has blessed me over the years, and every one of these ladies enjoys going back as much as we can,” Van Buskirk said. “It’s heartbreaking, but it’s just as rewarding to know we can reach out to some child, some family that doesn’t have what other families have.”