Season for sharing

The circumstances vary from family to family. Some parents have lost jobs. Some have one parent working, trying to support several people on one income. Some are single-parent families. Regardless of the circumstances, hundreds of families are signing up through several agencies for some help to make this Christmas a magical one for their children.

Members of the Wichita Falls Fire Department, through Operation Santa Claus, hope the community will come through as they help carry Santa’s load this year. Operation Santa Claus takes some of the wishes families provide to several other agencies and works to make those wishes come true.

Their goal is to buy, assemble and provide 300 bikes, said chairman Rusty Sheppard, a fire equipment operator with the Wichita Falls Fire Department.

They also plan to collect other new toys to fulfill little ones’ wishes and distribute those gifts to the organizations that have signed on to work with them.

There is plenty of need, Sheppard said.

“I know a lot more people are needing help this year,” he said.

That’s why he hopes tickets for the Nov. 28 Operation Santa Claus Dinner and Dance will sell out. The event, which runs from 6:30 to 11 p.m. at the Elks Lodge at 4205 Seymour Highway, will include a dinner of prime rib and shrimp. The Jay Hollis Band will provide entertainment.

A $75 ticket admits one couple and includes an entry in the raffle for the grand prize — a 2010 Polaris 500 4X4. Other chances for door prizes will also be included throughout the night.

There are also tickets available for $25 per plate; those do not include chances to win the prize.

There are 300 tickets available, and the Wichita Falls Fire Department would like to see them sell out quickly. For tickets to the dance, call 940-636-1257 or 940-761-7901.

In 2008 more than 800 children received gifts through community support of the program.

The WFFD has been providing toys and gifts to children in Wichita Falls and surrounding communities through this effort for the past 41 years.

Firefighters will also head out Nov. 27 and 28 — Black Friday and the following Saturday — to “Fill the Stocking,” collecting donations from shoppers as they head to their destinations. Anything from 50 cents to a larger donation makes a difference, Sheppard said.

He hopes all the season’s fundraisers will help make this Christmas shine for hundreds of kids in the community.

“It’s all about the kids,” he said.
By Jessica Langdon in The Wichita Falls Times Record News