Missouri boy delivers hundreds of Easter baskets to children in need: 'Helping kids smile'
Luke Flerlage, 6, helped collect 12,221 items for Alleluia Baskets in O'Fallon, Missouri, this Easter 2023
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Missouri boy has made it his mission to help bring joy to others during their Easter celebration.
Luke Flerlage, 6, has been volunteering with Alleluia Baskets in O'Fallon, Missouri, since he was three years old.
Alleluia Baskets is a non-profit that "builds community and provides joy" by providing Easter baskets for those in the community who are living at or below the poverty level, Karen Mesler, founder of Alleluia Baskets, told Fox News Digital.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Luke became involved with the organization alongside his parents in 2020, who came in to help Mesler and her team fill Easter baskets.
Luke Flerlage, 6, has been volunteering with Karen Melser (pictured left) and Alleluia Baskets for the last three years. (Karen Mesler)
Luke started assembling the baskets with help from his mother, Beverly Flerlage, but by the end of his first year volunteering, he was able to start building baskets on his own, Mesler shared.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Mesler said he went home and told his parents that "he wants to help more kids smile," so Luke started finding ways to bring in thousands of supplies.
Luke father, Mike Flerlage, reached out to Mesler on behalf of Luke – sharing his desire to increase the efforts, Mesler added.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In 2022, the Flerlage family filled multiple cars worth of different toys and gifts for the baskets that would go out that year.
Luke Flerlage, 6, started volunteering with his parents in 2020, has been back every year, bringing in more and more supplies for the Easter Baskets. (Karen Mesler)
After that season, Luke wanted to collect even more Easter basket goodies.
Over a root beer float, Mesler and Luke devised a plan for Easter 2023.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This time, Mesler provided Luke with a box truck, and he was determined to fill the entire vehicle with supplies.
Luke helped collect 12,221 items for Alleluia Baskets for Easter 2023 and loaded it all up into Mesler's box truck. (Karen Mesler)
"He spoke to everyone he knew and everyone he met and said, 'I'm collecting things for Alleluia Baskets, we're helping kids smile on Easter,'" Mesler shared.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A friend of the Flerlages ran a pumpkin patch in the fall of 2022, and the proceeds from the patch were used to buy this year's supplies for Alleluia Baskets.
He is conscious of the mission to bring joy to others at Easter.
On March 27, 2023, the box truck arrived and with the help of nearly 50 volunteers, all 12,221 items were unloaded from the vehicle.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It was a very sweet, beautiful act of love," Mesler commented.
"Luke's heart is in the right place, he is caring and wants to do good for others," Karen Mesler, founder of Alleluia Baskets, told Fox News Digital. (Karen Mesler)
Luke's parents said their kindergartner's heart is "as big as he is."
"He likes seeing [the volunteer effort] grow, getting bigger every year. And most of all it makes people happy and smile," Beverly Flerlage told Fox News Digital.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Luke already has plans for next year's basket-filling event and he's looking forward to hosting a kid's trivia night in September. All the proceeds from trivia night will go towards Alleluia Baskets, Mesler said.
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"Luke's heart is in the right place, he is caring and wants to do good for others. He is conscious of the mission to bring joy to others at Easter," she added.