Holy Trinity Memorial Lutheran Church, 604 Fourth St., Catasauqua, held a basket raffle Oct. 7 and 8.

A number of volunteers were on hand to handle the rush of patrons.

The staff included Susan Marakovits to greet guests outside, Sandy Svitana to greet the guests inside and longtime church volunteer Janis Charvala as the information coordinator. Other volunteers helped ensure a smooth flow of patrons getting into the church and successfully navigate the aisles of baskets.

Holy Trinity holds a number of fundraising events with proceeds for nonprofit organizations. This basket raffle’s profits are earmarked to go to the Allentown Rescue Mission, 355 Hamilton St., Allentown.

Visit allentownrescuemission.org to donate directly to the mission if you were unable to attend the basket raffle.

The team of church volunteers has a solid system for these events. They have arrows on the floor to ensure a clear flow of patrons in the aisles, and they have the baskets set up by category, such as women’s items, household, wine, baby, children and arts.

These categories help patrons seeking specific themed baskets to reduce the time searching - for example, women’s products are all grouped together.

Vicki Chimics, Carol Hartranft and Diane Jones utilized the event as an opportunity to socialize and catch up.

The basket raffle was busy and was a good time for all involved - the volunteers, the patrons, church members and the Allentown Rescue Mission.