It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

By Tricia Muniz

The grass is still green, leaves are still on the trees and the little ones are still contemplating their Halloween costumes, so it’s understandable that few of us are thinking about the upcoming holiday season just yet.  But at Tennyson Center for Children, the jolly old man in the red suit is as busy as ever as we kick off Operation Santa 2012, where we reach out to the community to engage support so that hundreds of children and families-in-need will be able to experience the warmth and joy of the season.
 
Prior to arriving at Tennyson Center, many of the kids in our care have never experienced the holiday traditions so many of us take for granted.  They don’t understand what it feels like to awaken on Christmas morning to the sight of presents under a glowing Christmas tree.  In fact, many of them have never even had a Christmas tree.
 
But that’s all about to change.  The Operation Santa program ensures that the children will finally have a holiday season, complete with stockings, goodies, presents and all sorts of holiday activities.  Additionally, the program will provide even the most basic items for many of the families in our care who struggle to simply put food on the table, let alone provide anything which resembles a joyous holiday season. 

Best of all, it provides lasting memories for the children as well as the families.  We recently heard from the foster mom of Caleb, a young man who transitioned from Tennyson Center’s residential treatment program a few years ago.  She said that he often talks about his first holiday season at Tennyson and the impact it had upon him. 

Caleb, now 16,  said, “As long as I live, I’ll never forget my first Christmas at Tennyson Center.  It was really my first Christmas ever and I had no idea what to expect. My birth family never had a Christmas when I living with them.  No tree, no presents, no lights. Nothing.”

“I remember decorating the tree in Warren Cottage,” he continued.  “A lot of the kids had never decorated a tree before but the staff let us do pretty much whatever we wanted.  When I think back, it was probably the ugliest Christmas tree in the world.  But for all of us kids in the cottage, it was one of the coolest things we’d ever seen.  To us, it was beautiful.”

This year, Caleb told his foster family not to buy him any presents for Christmas but, instead, to donate the money they would have spent on his gifts to the Operation Santa program.  His new mom told us that the family was so moved by his gesture that they all followed suit.

“We’ll probably get each other one small gift,” she told us.  “But we’re going to take all the money we would normally spend on all the presents we usually get to help out with Operation Santa.  It’s what Caleb wants to do.”  
 
But the Operation Santa program is about so much more than just gifts under the tree on Christmas morning.  It also helps stock TCC’s classrooms and programs with the kinds of items the teachers and direct care staff need to ensure their continued success with things like computer software, electronic learning tools and books, all of which are vital to the academic success of the kids.  Additionally, the program keeps the residential cottages supplied with items ranging from furniture to clean linens and warm blankets.
 
Operation Santa donors have several options. They can select and purchase  items from online “wish lists”  which will provide gifts for the children as well as essential items for the classrooms, programs, and cottages.  The lists are similar to online wedding registries and allow for items to be directly shipped to Tennyson Center.

Donors also have the option of “adopting” a family-in-need served through Tennyson’s community-based services program.   Or donors can offer financial support with a tax deductible contribution that will help fund all of our programs as well as Operation Santa.
 
A new element to Operation Santa has been added this year.  TCC’s direct care staff are ultimately the ones directly responsible for the success of the children we serve.  These professionals are among the most dedicated and caring individuals.  Day in and day out, they’re on the front lines, so to speak, dealing with the children’s emotional and behavioral challenges.  So this year, we want to honor their work and help make their jobs just a little bit easier.  We have added wish list items which will help them help the children even more. 

If you’d like to be a part of Operation Santa 2012 as one of Santa's elves, call Tricia at 720-855-3358. You can also find more detailed information about Operation Santa by clicking here.

 ©2012 Tennyson Center for Children at Colorado Christian Home.