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Christmas isn’t until December, but the “elves” of the Special Santa program are hard at work, and have been for months.

Last year, the Special Santa program served 811 families — giving the gift of Christmas to more than 2,300 kids. This year, organizers expect the number of families to go up even more, and that’s why the program has become a yearround endeavor.

“We take a break from about March to July, just to relax a little,” said Mari Jo Parks, the program’s coordinator. “But pretty much it’s all year long.”

This year is the eighth for the program, which falls under the umbrella of Kids Are People, Inc. The first year, it served 90 people, but as more agencies learned about the program — and the more Parks made it a passion of hers — it started to grow quickly.

“By now, so much falls into place because agencies know what we’re doing and what to expect, and the schools do it every year,” Parks said. “Schools are kind of the ‘fun’ group, because the kids always come up with new ways of contributing, and they like to compete against each other.”

The Special Santa program works closely with agencies like the local food banks and Salvation Army, as well as Toys for Tots. The joined efforts make sure people who are in need get to have a Christmas.

“When I hear a naysayer talk about people taking handouts, I ask them if they had the opportunity to touch the lives of 2,300 kids, would they do it?” Parks said. “And they always say yes. The reason we do it is that we have so much fun. I’ve made so many nice new friends through it.”

Janice Carrington, the program’s media relations coordinator, said for her, volunteering is like getting a gift at Christmas.

“It makes you feel so good to be helping people out,” Carrington said. “I get more out of it, I think.”

The first big event for the Special Santa program is actually Halloween-related. Halloween Hollow has become a rousing success — last year, more than 3,000 ghosts, ghouls and goblins, all of the three-foot-tall variety, made their way to Halloween Hollow to trick-or-treat and play games. It’s a safe place for parents to bring their children for Halloween festivities, and it’s cheap — the admission is one unwrapped toy (no stuffed animals) or $5 per child, and $1 for each adult.

The toys go to the Special Santa program, and the money is used to buy toys for the program. This year, the event is being held Oct. 30 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Raven Hall at the Alaska State Fairgrounds.

“Last year we got 1,200 toys from Halloween Hollow,” Parks said. “It’s a very successful fund-raiser for the program.”

Following Halloween Hollow is a new event, the Festival of Trees. From Nov. 16 through Nov. 21, local businesses will pay $250 each to “rent” a Christmas tree at the Cottonwood Creek Mall. Businesses will decorate each tree in a competition against the other businesses, and then all 20 trees will be auctioned off, giving the Special Santa program two chances to raise money.

“We had a gentleman suggest the idea. I guess they do it down in the Lower 48, and it sounded like a good idea,” Parks said.

As part of the event, there will also be a Special Santa Reindeer Run, which is much like a poker run that snowmachiners will recognize. The idea is that people buy a card for $20, and then must visit five of the businesses participating in the Festival of Trees. If they do that, they’ll get five stamps. If they visit seven businesses, they’ll receive seven stamps.

The stamps are then turned in for poker cards, with the top three hands dividing up 50 percent of the entry fees, with the other 50 percent going to the Special Santa program.

The Reindeer Run takes place Nov. 16-21.

After those two events, it’s time for the biggest Special Santa event of all — the toys. Throughout November and December, volunteers will be collecting toys and coordinating efforts.

The program is always looking for any kind of toys, as well as clothing, personal items, household items, art supplies, sports equipment, gift cards or certificates, books. Gift cards are also appreciated.

“There is no donation that is too small,” Parks said.