Dear Santa is celebrating 17 years of providing food and clothing to Bowling Green City Schools families.
Last year, the program assisted 70 families and 179 children – 147 of those kids hadn’t been helped before, said Dear Santa Co-Coordinator Kisha Nichols at Tuesday’s school board meeting.
When Jim and Dee Szalejko moved to Bowling Green from Philadelphia, they brought the program with them. Jim was a bus driver and Dee was a teacher. They ran Dear Santa until 2021, when they moved away.
That is when Nichols and Jennifer Ostrowski stepped up.
“We provide Christmas assistance to the families of children who attend Bowling Green City Schools,” Nichols said. “And we cannot do it alone.”
“We rely on the generosity and kindness of others in our community,” Ostrowski said.
The BG Ice Cats sort hygiene products and individual players raise money to purchase hams.
Staff, students and community members help wrap hundreds of gifts. Last year, Bowling Green State University men’s and women’ basketball players as well as the swimming and diving team helped.
The Bobcat hockey team loads vehicles for the delivery drivers.
“Every year we think that maybe this year there will be fewer asks,” Nichols said. “It hasn’t happened yet.”
In 2021, 39 families and 132 children from birth to 18 were helped. In 2022, those numbers rose to 56 families, including 151 children.
“There are negotiations in the process for how high that number can go,” Nichols said.
Last year, Dear Santa gave away 39 bikes, 82 hams, 118 pairs of boots and shoes and 72 coats, she said.
Last year was the first time families asked for beds and bedding, Ostrowski said.
“The need is significant in our community,” she said. “They’re not just asking for gifts and toys and gift cards, they’re asking for essentials and necessities for their families and their children,” she said.
The Brown Bag Food Project assists with food donations for a holiday meal, she said, and Dear Santa partners with the Salvation Army to share names so that resources go to lots of families.
H2O Church provides delivery drivers, bikes and coats, Ostrowski said.
A number of businesses are holding fundraisers for Dear Santa, including The Curry Lounge, Dairy Queen, Beckett’s Burgers, Sam B’s and Juniper Brewing Company. Details can be found on the Dear Santa Facebook page at Dear Santa Society-Bowling Green Chapter.
Brookdale Senior Living picks a non-profit every year to present the proceeds from its wreath auction. This year they chose Dear Santa, Nichols said.
“We are super excited about that,” she said.
Other community partners include the Kiwanis and Rotary clubs, the Gospel House, Bowling Green Schools Foundation, Meijer, Home Depot and the Bowling Green High School FFA chapter, softball team and StuCrew.
Families in need who have children in Bowling Green schools, or someone who knows a family, are asked to email Dear Santa at [email protected] or mail a letter to P.O. Box 513, Bowling Green, OH 43402.
In the letter, they are asked to briefly describe the circumstances and include the children’s names, sizes, ages, wish list, parents’ names, address and phone number or email where society members can reach the family to verify information.
The deadline to submit requests is Nov. 18. Families who are chosen for assistance will be contacted by Dec. 8.
Delivery will be Dec. 21.
To donate, checks can be mailed to the P.O box or payment may be made by Venmo at Dear-Santa and PayPal at [email protected].
Donated items can be dropped off at Kenwood Elementary, where Nichols is a second-grade teacher and Ostrowski is an intervention specialist.
