“It was a fun day,” said Hannah. “I thought it was going to be talking about cars. But it wasn’t. It was about wrapping gifts for others and getting gifts.”
Hannah was just one of 150 children from Santa Clara Unified School District invited to this year’s Santa Clara Rotary Christmas 4 Kids.
For more than three decades, the service club has provided holiday cheer to youngsters who might have little or none. Hosted by Stevens Creek Lexus, the guests enjoyed snacks and sweet treats and took home a bag of toys, books, gifts for other family members and a brand new winter coat.
“This is not just about getting, it’s also about giving,” said Rotarian Andy Ratermann.
Forty Niners mascot Sourdough Sam visited, as well as soccer legends Shea Salinas, Ismael “Easy” Perez, Thomas Silva and George “King” Lamptey. The guest of honor, of course, was Santa Claus, who drove in on a Lexus SC460 convertible.
Stevens Creek Lexus has hosted Christmas 4 Kids for about ten years.
“It’s so much fun to see the kids having fun,” said Lexus manager Barry Johnson.
It takes a small army of Rotarians and community volunteers and the generosity of local businesses to put on the event year after year. Collen Noll was the event planner. Tressa Williams and Ratermann donated the winter coats and toys, respectively.
In addition to the hardworking Rotary Club members and local high school students who volunteered their time, many local businesses contributed to making the event a success.
Royal Couch Tours contributed transportation for the children, as the company has done for many years. Books were donated by the Santa Clara Library Foundation & Friends and Books Plus of Los Altos.
“It’s a great opportunity for Rotary to give back to the community and address some of the needs of students in Santa Clara Unified,” said event chair Mark Shield. “It has turned into a huge community event.”
For nearly 90 years, Santa Clara Rotary has been giving its time and energy to serve the community, with a special focus on young people. In addition to Christmas 4 Kids, Santa Clara Rotary Club sponsors Steps for Success – which ensures that students start the school year in properly fitting new shoes – and the Enterprise Leadership program, which teaches business skills to teens.
Since 1979, Rotary International has been on a mission to eradicate polio with a $2 billion worldwide vaccination effort.
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