“The little stuff goes in the toe of the stocking and the coloring books are rolled and added to the top,” Sylvia instructed.

Sylvia has been a Program Partner for a very long time and participates in several Plains Programs. She knew exactly how to stuff the stockings to provide some form to the stocking and allow for more items to go in. Christmas activities were absolutely buzzing during our visit with Sylvia and her helpers.

Sylvia was apologetic at the disarray of the back room. For a program that was gearing up to distribute over 700 Christmas stockings to babies, youths, teens and Elders, it looked like organized chaos… Santa’s workshop, Flathead style! Sylvia and her helpers were organizing all the stockings provided by the AIRC Program by first disassembling them.

Every year, Sylvia saves up toys and other items to add to the AIRC stockings, and the items will only fit if they are strategically placed in the stocking. Sylvia has been implementing the stocking program for several years now and even recalled a little boy a few years back saying, “Santa, it’s too big!”

Sylvia liked the size and color selection of stockings this year. “They are just the right size and the different colors help us to organize the different age groups and genders,” she said. With the extra items provided by a donation from another organization, the stockings would be gifts built from the great collaboration of caring individuals for deserving youth. Some of Santa Sylvia’s helpers were bagging up candy and other flavorful treats to go into the “toe” of the stocking. It would be the last item the children would dig out of their stocking.

In addition to adding extra goodies to the stockings, there were handcrafted toys created by Sylvia’s husband, Marvin — an expert toy maker. Beautifully crafted planes, trains and automobiles with moving parts were cut from scrap wood parts, hand sanded and carefully painted with just the right colors to capture the attention and imagination of a young child. Marvin had his own helper, Rick, who helped with the painting of the handmade toys.

The holiday party was scheduled exactly one week from the day of our visit. A flyer notifying the community said, “Who’s Been Naughty or Nice…” and gave the times and dates of the two day event. Children were to receive a photo with Santa, as well as treats and a gift from Santa. Mrs. Claus was even going to make an appearance! “First time ever,” Sylvia said. She wished everyone — donors and staff alike — could be at the event to witness all the excited faces and contagious smiles of the children.

We were proud to partner with Santa Sylvia and all her helper elves during this thrilling event. Our heart-felt appreciation goes out to generous donors who helped make this possible for children who may otherwise have missed out.

Thank you!