Santa’s Elves: Kids giving to kids
Carter Barnes, Cade Varela, Faith Bush, Samera Shim, Ava Maurer & Aneya Goel.
Information courtesy of DCS Montessori
Kids … have you ever wanted to be an elf for Christmas? Have you ever thought about how fortunate you are? Have you ever wanted to help the less fortunate? Well, Santa’s Elves helps you do just that.
Santa’s Elves started in 2010 when mom Deborah Sherman was trying to figure out how to teach her four-year-old son Jack about the value of giving instead of receiving gifts at Christmas. She came up with the idea to have Jack choose, wrap, and hand-deliver a gift to a child who needed a present in Denver. Once she told her friends Stella Castro and Jennifer Enderman about the idea, they joined in and the project became “Santa’s Elves: Kids giving to kids.”
When they thought of Santa’s Elves, they wanted it to be a whole different experience. They wanted, instead of mailing the gifts, for the kids to give the gifts face-to-face.
“It makes me want to [give] more often,” Maya Lukasik, age nine, said after her first Santa’s Elves experience.
Karen Aschenbrenner’s class at DCS Montessori (DCSM) wanted to become a part of Santa’s Elves this year. They held a bake sale and raised more than $500, and they adopted 20 children and had a lot of fun shopping for them.
“Santa’s Elves has been very fun and exciting, and next year we hope we can be a part of it again. We highly encourage you to be a part of it, too,” said DCSM student Gabriele Lukasik.
Santa’s Elves was a big success, and DCSM would like to give a special thanks to the mystery giver who donated more than $1,500 this year. Santa’s Elves is always striving to make the next year even better.
So if you want to get your elf on in 2014, visit santaselvesdenver.org. It’s a wonderful experience!
