Special Santa helps Christmas wishes come true

PALMER — ‘Tis the season to give, and this week hundreds of volunteers are working around the clock to fulfill the wish lists of thousands of children.

Mat-Su Special Santa CEO Mari Jo Parks said she and her adult volunteers began collecting presents for children in need the week before Thanksgiving. Now in its 19th year, the nonprofit (under Alaska Family Services) has ironed out most of the kinks in the process of putting out application forms, collecting wish lists, and fulfilling them, but it still takes time — and labor.

Parks said she receives assistance from Boy and Girl Scouts, 4-H clubs, church groups, schools and United Way of Mat-Su, plus the odd volunteer who just decides to spend a few hours in Santa’s workshop. Her “intense team,” which spends the most time with the program, consists of about 40 people, she said.

“It’s amazing, the amount of people that wanna come in and help,” Parks said.

“Quality control” person Donna Carr, who graduated from casual volunteer three years ago, said getting people involved in gift giving at every level is important for those who might not be able to spend both time and money.

“It’s just this full spectrum of community service,” Carr said.

On Tuesday, it was Palmer Junior Middle School leadership program students’ turn to help out. Students navigated the aisles of the Wasilla Wal-Mart in groups of about three or four in search of specified gifts, making selections and purchases with general donations provided by the nonprofit. After two and half hours of shopping, the eighth-graders trekked to the Palmer workshop to bag up and collect additional goodies for each family (several of which consisted of seven or eight members).

While scavenging the rooms of the workshop with her group, student Bailee Petersen said she gained a new appreciation for how much one person can do.

“I think it’s cool that we get to help other kids and make a difference,” she said. “I didn’t think I could do that much in my community.”

Peterson and classmate Gracie Payne said it can be stressful to pick gifts for an individual they don’t know, especially when the wish list item is something general that requires the volunteer to make a choice, such as what color or what brand.

On the flip side, being able to fulfill a specific request is more than a relief.

“It feels good when they get what they want,” Payne said.

Of course, that can’t always happen. With more teens asking for electronics, video games and large gifts, the organization’s and individual sponsors’ money can only go so far, Parks said. Plus, certain things might not be available at the stores frequented by Special Santa volunteers, so they try to reserve gift cards for those kinds of things, she said.

But most kids, or at least parents, seem happy to receive anything at all through the program, Parks said. She recalled one story of an adult volunteer who, when packing gifts into a black trash bag (to hide the presents from possibly present children’s eyes), realized she had once been a beneficiary.

“She said, ‘Oh my gosh, you gave me Christmas one year!’” Parks remembered. “She never knew where the gifts had come from until she saw that black bag and it clicked.”

That volunteer’s story is not one of a kind, either.

Palmer parent Carlea Irwin said when she dropped off her application on Tuesday that she thought Special Santa would be a blessing to her family, and hoped to one day return the favor.

“I’m just grateful that this resource is here, and next year hopefully we’ll be on the other end of it.”

Parents will pick up gifts for their children beginning Monday, Dec. 14, through Saturday, Dec. 19, based on the first letter of their last name.

‘Festival of Trees’

Through Saturday, Dec. 12, Special Santa is working the Festival of Trees fundraiser in which 12 decorated, 4-foot-tall Christmas trees are raffled off from various Palmer businesses. Trees include a variety of items such as gift cards and toys. Tickets are $1 and final drawings will be conducted at the Palmer Depot at 3 p.m. on Dec. 12.

For more information on Mat-Su Special Santa, visit special santa.net.

Contact reporter Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.