Volunteers always needed

The Special Santa program is thriving in the Valley, but more volunteers are needed to make sure kids in need get a quality Christmas.

Each year, the program gets larger and larger — in 2003, more than 2,300 kids were served, representing 811 families. With that enormous workload comes a big need for volunteers.

Volunteers help make the program so successful, organizers said.

“We’re looking for a lot more volunteers than we have right now,” said Mari Jo Parks, the program coordinator. “It’s a lot of fun. The stories you hear from the families are so amazing. It’s the entire community coming together to say, ‘We care together.’”

Volunteers are needed for things such as Halloween Hollow, assisting with the toy donations, packaging gift boxes and even cleaning up around the warehouse.

Which warehouse that will be is still up in the air. The program is still searching for a building big enough to house the toys and run the program out of. Last year, the old Juvenile Assessment Center was used, which worked out well.

If someone would like to volunteer to help the program, or if they have a warehouse they’d be willing to donate for the month, they can call the Special Santa program at 761-3770.