Children in nearly 20 elementary classrooms from school districts in Clark County visited the Wittenberg University’s Health, Wellness & Athletics Complex to eat lunch and attend the holiday carnival.
The joy coming from the children as they visited each of the activities and game stations could be felt throughout the complex, organizers said.
Children visited with Santa’s little sled pullers - the therapy dogs, go ice fishing with candy cane poles and get a prize, get their face painted, play bean bag snowman, get prizes from the pocket lady, have a balloon made from the balloon artist and more. The children also visited Santa in small groups to get a gift.
Heeg said in the fall, they go to each classroom and ask the children to give them three ideas of what they want from Santa, and they get one of the gifts on their list.
“Some children who come several years believes he’s Santa because (they got) what they asked for,” she said.
There are over 120 Rotarians, in which some volunteer for the event and are assigned a child, and they learn a little background about the child to know what their needs are when it comes to the Christmas activities.
“It means a lot,” said President Greta Mayer. “For Rotarians specifically, our motto is service above self, so giving back to the community and helping make Christmas brighter for children is a number one priority... For us to be a part of that is really special.”
Three children who are students from the Greenon Local School District - Braxton, Edison and Jordan - said they loved thed Christmas party.
Braxton said they were in the first group to visit Santa, which all three said was their favorite part, including getting a gift.
“Our Rotarians look forward to it, the kids look forward to it, the teachers... It sets the tone for us for the holidays,” Heeg said. “It’s an honor and a privilege and a responsibility for us in serving the children. They’re near and dear to us.”
Mayer said this Christmas party for the children is a signature event for the Rotary Club.
“If we can help out close to home and support schools, and we have so many partners that make this possible, it makes it that much more fun,” she said. “There’s so much history and Rotarians who’ve done this for the entire time they’ve been Rotarians, so that makes it really special.”
The Springfield Rotary Club had “quite a collaborative effort” to get the event done, Heeg said, including Wittenberg, catering services and servers, Springfield-Clark Career Technology Center’s culinary art students, Mercy Health - Springfield Regional Medical Center and The Abilities Connection (TAC).
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