Eastwood Elementary student lauded for “selfless mission”

        At their January meeting, the Eastwood Schools Board of Education recognized Eastwood Elementary School fourth-grader Richard Bauer for his efforts to help area families in need through the Eastwood Christmas Angel Tree program sponsored by the Luckey and Pemberville Food Pantries.
        Food pantry officials said he was a true Christmas angel, donating his allowance and raising other funds to help less fortunate families have a happy holiday.
        As the holiday season approached, the 10-year-old, the son of Rich and Elaine Bauer, of Stony Ridge, told his parents he wanted to donate the allowance money he had savedto  help buy toys for needy kids. With his $440, and contributions from family and friends who wanted to support his efforts, Rich had $2,000 for his holiday mission.
        His offer of help came as a happy Christmas coincidence for Angel Tree organizers, who had begun working on the Pemberville Christmas Angel Tree on the first of October. Everything was going well, especially, during the pandemic, as collections headed into the final week. The distribution of non-perishable and perishable food items, as well as personal hygiene bags and the children’s gifts was Saturday, Dec. 19. 
        On Wednesday morning of that week, Pemberville Angel Tree representatives learned of two families in need that were not scheduled to receive Christmas help. 
        “There were six children in those families with a single mother in one and grandparents raising children in the other,” a letter written by Pemberville and Luckey Angel Tree officials to the school board said. “They needed a great deal of help. One of the families had experienced a fire just a few months before and had not been able to replace all their items.”
        That afternoon, the Pemberville Food Pantry received a call from Rich Bauer, who said that his son, Richard, wanted to help out and get toys for children on the Angel Tree.  
        Richard asked pantry officials to give him and his son “a list of toys that the children want.” The pair set out to complete the list, which included aquatic aquarium for frogs, a remote-control truck, Calico Critters, Hatchables, Poppy Trolls, The Avengers toys and more.
        The Bauers rose to the challenge, returning with everything on the list before the deadline of 9 a.m. that Saturday, in time for high school National Honor Society students to wrap the gifts so they’d be ready for loading when the families came.
        “The caring and love for strangers that those gifts represented were made possible by Richard and his selfless mission,” Pemberville Angel Tree officials wrote. “We were truly blessed by the Lord when Richard walked into our lives and wanted to give to others.”
        In addition to fulfilling the Christmas wishes for the two families, Richard and his family were also able to donate 35 jigsaw puzzles and 35 board games to be sent out with the Christmas baskets and gifts collected for needy Eastwood families.
        “This young man is an example of the true meaning of Christmas,” Luckey Food Pantry officials added.
        With remaining money, Richard and his dad bought toys which he donated to Lake Township Police for distribution to deserving children in Lake Township.