The Spargifiore family has always believed in the magic of Christmas.
Four adult siblings, ranging in age from 20 to 25, have served as the SCV Santa team for a decade, dressing up as Mr. and Mrs. Claus and their helpers and bringing cheer to children in the Santa Clarita Valley and surrounding areas.
The team visits homes and hospitals, attends events put on by charities and first responders and answers letters, phone calls, emails and text messages to children.
Though, this year, the Spargifiores need some cheer of their own.
Their home, which was given to them by their grandfather before he died, is set to be foreclosed and auctioned Jan. 12.
While the siblings and their mother, Maria, all maintain jobs, they are burdened by the cost of spending $15,000 on a probate attorney and are drowning in $27,000 worth of backdated taxes on the house.
“It’s very overwhelming,” Maria Spargifiore said. “We’ve just been clinging onto this house for 18 years and fighting tooth and nail to keep it.”
Despite their personal battle, the family is still attending events and bringing joy to others all December long, including visiting the Santa Clarita Valley Boys & Girls Club and ABC7’s Spark of Love Toy Drive.
“It’s all about the season and the children,” she said.
Though the family is threatened with homelessness, Maria said the five of them keep in mind that there are still others who are worse off than they are.
To help the family keep their home, Santa Clarita local Freddie Pena has set up a GoFundMe online fundraising campaign to ask the community for contributions.
“I want to show people that this family has been giving all these years but now he needs a miracle,” Pena said.
To donate, visit Santa Needs a Christmas Miracle on GoFundMe.
The start of SCV Santa
When the oldest brother Jonathan Spargifiore was in elementary school, another child told him Santa Claus wasn’t real, though his mother assured the boy he was.
Not long after, Jonathan wrote a letter to Santa, which was unknowingly intercepted at the post office by a friendly neighborhood Santa.
Two days before Christmas, Santa and his helpers came to visit the Spargifiores and affirmed the kids’ belief in magic.
“There was no way anyone at school would ever tell my son Santa wasn’t real because he was in his living room,” Maria Spargifiore said.
From then on, the Spargifiore children wanted to make sure no kids ever questioned whether Santa was real.
Years later, the family attended a Christmas program and learned the man who was supposed to play Santa couldn’t make it.
“You can’t have a Christmas program without a Santa,” Maria recalls telling one of the organizers.
Then, 15-year-old Jonathan volunteered to serve as Santa for the day and found he felt at home in the suit.
“It’s kind of a Tim Allen story,” Maria said, comparing her son’s experience to the movie ‘The Santa Clause.’ “You put on the suit and you become the man.”
To see what the SCV Santa team is up to, visit their Facebook page.
