Student Santas

Jennifer and a few Student Santas blow kisses to all the kids. December 2007

Student Santas is an organization about families. God spoke to my heart three years ago as I watched my children open their gifts on Christmas morning. Instead of being happy at the sight of my two little ones tearing into their gifts, I found myself overcome with sadness and heartache. I realized that somewhere, at that very moment, there was a child waking up excited at the thought of Santa bringing that special doll or truck only to find nothing. It hurts to imagine a small face so full of hope running into a living room and becoming so disappointed. I found myself wondering…..How do you explain to a child that Santa didn't come to their house because Dad lost his job last month?

I strongly felt that I needed to do something. The following year I began gathering toys from my students at Southeast Missouri State University. We collected 1,500 toys and distributed them to children throughout the Cape Girardeau area. There was such a positive response that the following year we nearly tripled our toy collection and reached families as far as Poplar Bluff and Southern Illinois. Last year we gave away over 4,000 toys!

Because we're about families our service is personal. We don't just receive letters in the mail and ship gifts. We contact moms and dads and talk with them. We find out what their situation is, what their child's wishes for Christmas are, and what some of their needs may be. One family last year didn't have a Christmas tree, so we sent them a tree. Another family was living in a one bedroom apartment with no beds for their children, so we brought them bunk beds. Every gift is chosen and packaged with the age, gender, and wishes of the individual child in mind.

Our goal for 2008 is to give away 6,000 toys. We need your help in meeting our goal. Can you please donate new toys for children age 10 and under to the different locations listed below?

Prompt Care in Jackson

Schnucks in Cape Girardeau

The first floor of the Grauel building at Southeast Missouri State University (adjacent to room 107)

If you know of a child in need please send a letter with the child's age, gender, and toy requests to:

Student Santas

PO Box 641

Cape Girardeau, MO. 63702

With the help of others in the community sharing the same compassion for children as I do, we can meet this goal. Again, we aren't simply an organization that's only about getting toys to children. We're about helping families and showing children that we care about them as individuals. We want to put that bit of hope back into the hearts of children during the season in which hope matters the most!

With warm regards,

Jennifer Icaza-Gast

Founder & CEO

Student Santas

I would like to give a big thank you to this year's sponsors: Cape Evening Optimists, Prompt Care, Nephrology Associates, McElrath Realty, and The Book Rack. Thank you for all your support.