Kendall County Sheriff’s Office Blue Santa Program

I cannot believe my favorite time of the year is already here, “CHRISTMAS.” Please take a minute to close your eyes and picture the perfect Christmas. Some may imagine the smell of fresh-baked goods filling the house, the tree glistening with perfectly hung lights, and a fire crackling as the kids play with new toys. Of course, all children deserve to smile on Christmas day. However, Christmas is the one time during the year when the focus is on giving, emphasizing the excitement in the child’s eye as they unwrap a present specially chosen just for them.

We start the holiday season with high expectations, but all too often, our quest for the picture-perfect day leaves us frazzled and stressed. As a result, the Christmas season becomes flooded with anything but joy as we race to try and find the perfect gift and open our homes to family, in-laws, and friends.

For some, it is much more than this. In my years with the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office, I have often reflected that no one calls 9-1-1 to tell us that all is well with their lives. In our routine work, we often encounter children in circumstances and environments that are heartbreaking. Many children that we interact with only know Christmas as nothing more than a school holiday. Why? Because many families must choose between gifts and basic utility needs or food, leaving little resources for presents at Christmas time for their children. Regardless of the whys, all children deserve presents at Christmas and to always remember why we celebrate.

With all this being said, I am so proud that the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office Blue Santa Program is our most extensive community outreach program all year. This program goes back twenty-six-plus years. At that time, it was called the Brown Santa Program. But as the program grew, we changed to Blue Santa when we joined forces with the Boerne Police Department in 2004. So the program now consists of the Sheriff’s Office, Boerne Police Department, Hill Country Family Services, Boerne I.S.D., Boerne Community Coalition, American Legion, Boerne Radio 103.9, and several small businesses.

Approximately 20 Sheriff’s Office and Community volunteers work on the various aspects of the program and contribute over 550 person-hours in preparation for the event. You might wonder what that might entail when you see that many hours. With growth comes more responsibility from administrative duties, picking up toy donations from the designated drop sites, sorting the toys, and then bagging up individual family requests. This is just the tip of the iceberg regarding what these amazing volunteers do.

The love-filled hours come together on the day of the big event. When you walk around and see all of Santa’s helpers working together to put smiles on the faces of the families and children, it brings nothing but joy to my heart. I remember walking around last year thinking about how much love each bag was filled with leading up to the point of the event. Because it starts with each community member that shopped with love for the perfect toys and donated. Then the volunteers come in, sort the toys, select toys, and bag them for each child with more love. The parents then receive these toys and sprinkle more love into them. So, on Christmas Day, when these kids sit around the tree, they immediately feel the love before they open their gifts.

Another thing we often reflect on is how this program continues to grow. When you think about it with Blue Santa, that’s a hard thing to celebrate because that means that the need is continuing to grow due to our rapid growth. Last year we reached over 225 families and over 465 children. However, we can celebrate how our fantastic community continues to come together to exceed the needs. Without our benevolent community and loving sponsors, GVTC Foundation, Cavender Cares Auto Group, and Black Rifle Coffee, this program would be impossible.

Blue Santa is making his list and checking it twice! Families in need, please come by the Sheriff’s Office or Hill Country Family Services and complete an application to receive gifts for your children this holiday season. The deadline to submit applications is December 10th. Unfortunately, to help as many families as possible, we cannot fulfill applications if registered at multiple agencies or organizations.

I hope after reading this, you see how important the Blue Santa Program is to our community. There are multiple ways to get involved in helping spread the Christmas joy. For more information, you can contact Sgt. Heather Pomeroy at (830) 388-7712 or email her at [email protected]. tx.us.