If you’re having a little trouble getting into the spirit of the season, we have something for you. For 27 years, a group of people in Montgomery County have made sure the children of neighbors facing tough times have gifts to open on Christmas.
On Christmas Eve, those gifts — more than 1,400 of them — were personally delivered by Santa himself in the timespan of just two hours.
It was a precision operation. Volunteers gathered at the Wheaton Volunteer Rescue Squad.
Santa loaned out some of his most special helpers, because obviously he cannot be everywhere at once.
The event also involved the Montgomery Housing Partnership and the Wheaton Chamber of Commerce.
“This is a tough time for many families, with inflation, people losing jobs, other things like that.” Rob Goldman, president of the Montgomery Housing Program, said. “Many families struggle during the holidays.”
The army of volunteers gets bigger every year for something that takes planning and organization at an extremely high level.
Rescue squad vehicles escorted Santa’s special assistants and volunteers to nearby apartment complexes, where they unloaded and delivered the hundreds of gifts. Each was tailored to the child or teen who lived at the specific apartments on the list.
Some of the volunteers were kids themselves, accompanying their parents.
In a year that has contained challenges that rose to the level of despair for many residents of these apartment complexes, the innocent joy of a child greeting Santa Claus melted hearts.
“I do it to give back to the community,” said Shannon Rush-Locke, one of the volunteers. “I live here in Wheaton, I love it, and these are some of my students that come to my studio.”
In about two hours’ time, a big part of Wheaton was glowing with the spirit of the season, the spirit of community and love.
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