Here comes Santa Claus
Operation Santa gives residents a chance to open up their hearts and make Christmas a happy time for an underprivileged child.
K.K. SNYDER Staff Writer

LEESBURG - This time of year can create a lot of anxiety in homes of meager means and among children who don’t receive a visit from Santa. For that reason, Operation Santa has enjoyed great success in this area in the past two years and is gearing up to make this the best toy run ever. Founder and organizer of the local Operation Santa effort, Chuck Kirkpatrick, said each year brings more organization, experience, and volunteers, all of which are necessary for the program’s success. Last year local citizens, sponsors, and volunteers helped thousands of needy children.

Kirkpatrick expects that number to triple this year. “Last year, about the last four or five days before Christmas, we were receiving about 700 to 1,000 letters a day,” he said.

The program accepts letters to Santa and distributes therm to volunteer shoppers at local retailers, who fill the Christmas wish lists to the best of their ability and then mail or hand deliver the gifts to the children.

Last year’s letters included one from a 10 year old girl who requested “anything you have left” after her family lost everything in a fire. Another was written by a child from Camilla who said his mother was sick and asked Santa to bring clothes and diapers for his little brother and work pants for his father but asked for nothing for himself. One 8 year old girl wrote “Dear Santa Claus, can you please find it in your heart to get this one gift I really want for Christmas. That is a newborn baby doll that looks like a new born and feels like one with a pretend bottle and a diaper bag. My Daddy is on dialysis and Mommy is a single mon trying to make it.”

Letters can be placed in any of the 50 drop boxes in area schools or mailed to the Operation Santa post office box below, Boxes will also be paced in are offices of the Department of Family and Children Services.

This year, letters are now available for shoppers to pick up at Wal-Mart and Kmart in Albany. “We’re going to try and do a better job of reviewing the letters and making sure that the ones that really need to be answered get answered,” Kirkpatrick said.