Blue Santas gear up for season of giving

Dalondo Moultrie The Seguin Gazette

Christmas is less than a month away so area police departments continue to diligently prepare for the arrival of the big man in a blue suit.

Several Blue Santa programs in Guadalupe County are in various stages of toy gifting to children in the communities they serve. They can still use help, said Anna Kraft, community relations officer at Schertz Police Department.

“I grew up (believing) ‘it takes a village to raise our kids,’ so our community is our village,” she said. “If you’re able to give just a little bit to make sure children within our community are receiving a Christmas gift, every little bit helps.”

Along with Schertz, Blue Santa Programs are jingling all the way in Cibolo and Seguin.

Seguin Police Department began collecting gifts and kicked off its program’s wrapping nights on Tuesday with volunteers pitching in to help wrap gifts through Dec. 16, Community Engagement Officer Sarah Wallace said.

Applications to receive Seguin Blue Santa gifts are available at the police department, Seguin ISD elementary schools and the administration office, Navarro ISD and Marion ISD elementary and middle schools, the Seguin Housing Authority, all Seguin apartment complexes, the Community Council of South Central Texas, the Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office and St. Vincent De Paul Church in Schertz, Wallace said.

Residents seeking help must submit applications by Dec. 9 and pickup is scheduled Dec. 19 and 20 at Faith Lutheran Church Pre-School, 1326 E. Cedar St. in Seguin, Wallace said, adding that her goal is to serve at least 1,000 children this year.

“Last year, we ended with 1,012,” she said. “I’m hoping to go over that this year to help more kids.”

Anyone interested in volunteering their time to wrap gifts can just show up at the pre-school gymnasium Tuesdays and Thursdays, Wallace said. Additional information is located on the police department’s Facebook page, including a volunteer link and toy donation locations, she said.

Dec. 16 is the last day to donate for this year’s Blue Santa but anything collected after that date will help next year’s event, Wallace said. There’s never too much, she said.

“We have a ton of toys,” Wallace said Tuesday. “It’s a good problem to have. We’ve had very generous donations.”

Schertz closed its application process Nov. 18 for children 18 and younger to receive free Blue Santa gifts this year. There’s still time for members of the community to visit the police department lobby where Christmas gift requests hang from a wish tree, Kraft said.

Community members may take one of the tags, purchase the requested item and return the gift to the police department, she said.

This year, the community’s help is needed more than ever, Kraft said.

“Thus far we have for this year 210 children. This is the most we’ve ever had,” she said. “We normally run about 120.”

Return new, unwrapped gifts and the tag from the tree by Dec. 7, Kraft said. From now until Dec. 14, volunteers will wrap the gifts and prepare for the big give day, she said.

Families will show up for Blue Santa Day from 4 to 6 p.m. Dec. 16, at the Schertz Community Center, 1400 Schertz Pkwy., Building 4, to retrieve their gifts, Kraft said.

“While the parents are loading the gifts, we’ll have Blue Santa here,” she said. “We fill the kids up with cookies and send them home.”

Also, the program accepts monetary donations, Kraft said. Anyone willing to donate money or gifts, or volunteer to help wrapping can call her at 210-619-1264.

The Cibolo Police Department also is wrapping up gifts for this year’s iteration of the program, city of Cibolo Public Information Officer Rick Mireles said.

The deadline to turn in applications requesting Cibolo Blue Santa gifts is 5 p.m. Nov. 30, he said. There is some wiggle room in the event of extenuating circumstances, Mireles said.

“I’m not going to be a Grinch about it,” he said. “If I get a mother and kids and it’s between having Christmas and not having Christmas, I’m not turning them away.”

The program succeeds on the goodwill of the people, he said. Anyone may drop off new, unwrapped gifts until Dec. 9 at the Cibolo Police Department lobby. The program will host a gift-wrapping party 6 p.m. Dec. 14 at Cibolo Fire Station No. 2, Mireles said.

Then, gift handout is Dec. 17 at Fire Station No. 2.

Monetary donations may be made to the Alumni Association of the Cibolo Citizens Police Academy, Mireles said. Community members can earmark the donations specifically for the Blue Santa program in Cibolo, he said.

“If I have leftover, it goes to next year’s Blue Santa,” Mireles said.

The program averages about 25 families per year. He was already at 21 families as of Monday and expects several more, Mireles said.

“As the window closes, they’re going to start pouring in,” he said. “I’m going to have more than 25.”

The number of families benefiting from the program grows annually, Mireles said. The more the merrier, he said.

“On pickup day, we try to make it as festive as possible,” Mireles said. “We try to make it like a Christmas party. We have Santa Claus there. There are opportunities to have pictures with Santa. Since it’s the fire department, we’ll have fire apparatus there.”

They try to have a movie playing on a big screen, something Christmas-themed like “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” or “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” Mireles said.

They do it all to spread a little more holiday cheer, he said.

“People are in need,” Mireles said. “We’re here to provide a service and we’re going to provide that service.”

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