The spirit of giving is alive and well here

By Chuck Gibson

LOVELAND, OH (December 11, 2025) – The spirit of the season reveals itself in so many ways, but there is no doubt one of the most wonderful way the spirit of Christmas shows up in Loveland is at LIFE’s annual Giving Shoppe for some of our own less fortunate families and individuals.

The Loveland Inter Faith Effort (LIFE) Giving Shoppe was set up by many caring and generous volunteers last weekend at the Masonic Lodge near Symmes Park in Loveland so LIFE clients were able to shop for their family Christmas Monday and Tuesday, December 8-9. More than 250 families; 800 individuals are served by LIFE and benefit from this most important Giving Shoppe event. Families and individuals registered as clients of the LIFE Food Pantry are eligible to participate in this special shopping event to bring Christmas home to their family. With the combined cooperation of the Emery Lodge of Loveland and the Oakley Lodge of Cincinnati, volunteers are able to set up a shopping area as good as any department store during the holiday season.

Words simply cannot describe the vast array of gift items displayed for the client shoppers. It’s even better than going to the local shops filled with a maze of shoppers all searching to find that perfect gift. At the Giving Shoppe, clients sign up for a time and have a volunteer there to help them as they go through picking up the items they need for Christmas at their home. Toys for girls and boys, clothes for the kids, the teens, mom, dad and everyone in the family. They find household goods too, not to mention gift cards and even popular electronics. When they’re finished shopping and filling their cart, the last stop on the way out clients receive gift wrapping paper to put the finishing touch of the Christmas Spirit on their shopping experience.

Terri Riley Carter has been the acting director for the LIFE Food Pantry the last several months. She recognizes what it takes each year to bring the magic of Christmas alive inside the Masonic Lodge.  

“It is a huge effort each year to turn the lodge into a department store,” said Carter. “We certainly could not do this without the support of so many and the community.”

Carolina Maurer and K. Buckler are just two of the many volunteers who were there helping clients find everything they needed to keep the Christmas spirit alive for their families. Here the LIFE Giving Shoppe comes alive in pictures at the Masonic Lodge in Loveland this Christmas.  (Note: All photos credit Chuck Gibson/Loveland Beacon)  There are 24 photos total – running in a continuous loop below. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas wishes from LIFE Food Pantry