The College of the Canyons University Center saw hundreds of families pass through its doors on Saturday, drawn by toys — and a visit from Santa Claus.
Hundreds of kids lined up at a single desk in the University Center lobby for an early Christmas present, courtesy of the Santa Clarita chapter of Junior Chamber International, a nonprofit made of adults aged 18-40 who take on leadership and service roles to help their communities.
Dubbed the Santa’s Helpers Toy Drive, the JCI event has been going strong since 1999 – back when Mr. and Mrs. Claus would hand-deliver gifts to families’ homes, said Sammi Lutza, a JCI volunteer and one of this year’s three Santa’s Helpers event committee chairs.
“We have 800 kids coming today,” Sammi said. “I think the exact number is 803 now, which is incredible.”
Kids eligible for the program were identified by JCI members who work with Santa Clarita Valley school social workers. After getting a link to register for the event, parents were able write in their child’s special interests.
Saturday’s hours-long event had several big surprises for families in line that day, including parents who’d never registered before: 11-year-old Scarlett Salazar received a brand new bike in the University Center’s lobby.
“I’ve known about JCI. I know Brittany (a JCI member) and a lot of people in the JCI organization,” said Scott Edwards, Salazar’s father. “And with my wife and I being foster parents, they offered to do this … and this is our first year actually coming, so we’re very excited and absolutely super thankful.”
JCI member Ben Minkin said the event is intended to address the financial barrier to the holiday for many families in Santa Clarita.
“The unfortunate reality is that there is a big financial barrier to Christmas … when their parents are barely making enough to put food on the table, money for Christmas gifts and money to have these things isn’t always there,” Minkin said. “So what we want to do is really serve the community in terms of making it accessible.”
It’s a serious labor of love for JCI each year, but it’s one of the Santa Clarita chapter’s most significant events, Minkin said.
“It’s been probably at least 15 days’ worth of just wrapping,” said Santa’s Helper committee co-chair Dillon Lutza. “But even before that, finding the toys and pairing it to what the kids actually want. We want to make it a great experience for the families.”
After getting their gifts, JCI had several family activities for kids to participate in, including taking photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus, face painting, crafting, outdoor games in the back patio and – perhaps most significant of all – a serious variety of free food, donated by local businesses that sponsored the event.
While the gifts might be the most memorable aspects of the day for the kids, the food, game and activities gave the families who participated Saturday a real community event.
“The gifts are one piece of it. But I’ve been telling everyone today, the true value is (in) it having a community to spend it with,” Minkin said.
Correction: An earlier version of this story identified Sammi and Dillon Lutza as members of a three-person committee. They are two of three committee co-chairs. That information has been corrected.
