This afternoon, about 20 volunteers congregated in the RBHS cafeteria with one goal in mind: to share the Christmas spirit with children by stepping in as Santa’s helpers. For the past few years, RBHS has helped with the Letters from Santa program done by the University of Missouri-Columbia’s YMCA. The YMCA receives information from parents about their children, including the child’s name, his or her siblings, pets and goals he or she would like to accomplish. Volunteers then wrote personalized letters, signed Santa Claus, to send to the kids. The letters included funny information about Rudolph’s love of hot chocolate with marshmallows, and the reindeers’ vigorous training program to prepare for their sleigh pull on Christmas. However, volunteers also slipped in words of encouragement about doing well in school and toughing out braces.
The YMCA asked for a five dollar donation per letter, and the program is a fundraiser for the YMCA’s youth activities, which includes tutoring.
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By Kelsey Harper, RBRO correspondent