Save the Date! Packing Day is December 5, 2026!
The mission of Rockbridge Christmas Baskets is to share the joy of the holiday season by providing food and toys to as many households in need as possible in Rockbridge County and the cities of Lexington and Buena Vista, Virginia.
In December of 1948, the Lexington Woman's Club and the Lexington Junior Woman's Club created an amazing thing – the Santa Clauc Truck. The Santa Claus Truck was a coordinated community effort to provide food and toys to those in need at Christmas. There were any number of individual effots at the time trying to do the same sort of thing – churches and civic clubs doing what they could with what they had. But the magic behind the Santa Claus Truck was that it brought all of these individual effots together, creating a synergy that only comes when like minds and hearts collaborate. The Santa Calus Truck served 150 families that first year, and a tradition was born.
Over the years, the Santa Claus Truck became the Rockbridge Christmas Basket Program. There have been some changes since 1948. In 2025, we served 3,407 people, including 1,201 children. But a lot has stayed the same. We still deliver healthy food and toys at a time of year when they're needed most. Our operational costs are razor thin. And we still rely on the generosity of others, both individuals and organizations, to do what we do. We are truly thankful for every penny and every second we are given and consider ourselves fortunate to live in a place as wonderful and caring as Rockbridge County.
President – Paige Williams
Vice President – Jamie Joyner
Treasurer – Karen Paulk
Secretary – Melanie Fall
Business Coordinator – Beth Owermohle
Chair, Logistics – Jamie Joyner
Chair, Donor Relations – Paige Williams
Chair, Toys – Ruth Candler
Co-Chair, Food – Rolf Piranian
Co-Chair, Food – Jana Shearer
Chair, Communications – Joy George
Chair, Recipient Data – David Saacke
Chair, Donor Data – Liz Schmidt
Chair, Area Deliveries – Bill Lowe