Busy Season Underway for Santa’s Cause

Founded in 2005 by Sanford resident Robin Breault Donarum, Santa’s Cause strives to make a difference in our community during the stressful holiday season. What started as a simple desire to make sure the children in York County Foster Care System had at least one gift to open on Christmas morning, has grown to the distribution of thousands of toys and gifts in a 10-week time period.

Santa’s Cause provides age-appropriate gifts, and holiday support, to an ever-increasing number of needy families throughout York County. Requests come in from pre-approved third-party referring individuals – counselors, teachers, social workers, child protective services, etc. The first priority is the children in foster care. Robin and her Board of Directors work directly with the supervisors and caseworkers of DHHS in District 1 to make sure each child has a special day. Thanks to the support of our community and volunteers, they have never left a request for help unanswered.

To provide help to those in need, they reach out to businesses and private citizens in southern Maine for donations of toys, clothing and gift card contributions. EVERY gift donated to Santa’s Cause goes towards the cause. The challenge is that because they are a “last resort” organization, they seldom know in advance to what extent their help will be needed. They always hear from families that have had a personal tragedy and need last minute help, or a foster child that has been taken in on an emergency basis at the last minute.  Most years they are making deliveries until late on Christmas Eve.

Would you like to help make Christmas special for a kid in need? There are various ways you can contribute:

The Adopt-a-Kid Program gets kids what they want straight from their own wish list. This way each child feels the excitement of opening something they were truly wishing for! In order to do this, Santa’s Cause needs people who are willing to give of their hearts and their time to “adopt” these kids and do the shopping. Families often shop together. Teaching our young ones that there are others in need, and that they can make a difference can be a life changing experience! To help out with this program, fill out the form here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe7uhvIyDDI8aGgUVoqcPEvsid1lBXbb2jotRXzpjSGtUXXNQ/viewform.

The Santa’s Cause Public Amazon gift registry has a list of gift items that have been asked for by the kids and teens served by the program – these items are for those that are NOT a part of the Adopt program and also include items Robin is most worried about obtaining, including teen items that are often overlooked. The gift registry is located here: https://www.amazon.com/registries/custom/20147LTAH8RD2/guest-view.

The Day Out Program supplies gift cards / certificates to area attractions and fast food restaurants. Santa’s Cause compiles them and gives them out as a “Day Out Package” to the kids they serve. It doesn’t have to be much: $5 or $10 to Smitty’s, Dunkin, Bowl-A-Rama, McD’s, Wendy’s, KFC are all welcome. It all adds up and the kids love it. Sometimes it’s the only chance they have to do something as a family or with their friends – they make sure ALL children in a family get passes.

Another way to help is by offering to purchase one larger item for a child – you can specify the amount of money you are able to spend and Santa’s Cause will match that with the name and age of a child or teen and the item they have wished for. These are usually in the $30-50 range. Gift cards to TJ Maxx, Amazon, Walmart and Target are often asked for by teens for clothing – this is great for people who want to help with clothing but know how hard it is to know what any teen likes to wear. Any amount is greatly appreciated!

They also get lists of children’s hobbies, interests, etc, so if you are out bargain hunting and see something you think a child or teen will enjoy – pick it up and drop it off at one of their locations and they will match it to a child!

Santa’s Cause drop off locations in Sanford are:

• Taylor Rental Center, 1306 Main St.
• Sanford Flooring, 1209 Main St.

Gift cards can be mailed to 75 Farview Drive, Sanford, Maine 04073 or dropped off at Sanford Flooring.

Visit their facebook page for more information and updates: https://www.facebook.com/santascausemaine, or contact Robin at robin.donarumo@yahoo.com.

Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay

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