Green Santa reports donations thus far this season have been slow.

“We have had no monetary donations to date,” Jeanne Jarvis said. “And toy donations are slow so far, but I am not too worried yet.”
Jarvis said toy donations typically pick up with the annual benefit held by the Lakeway SingAlongs. This year, that program will take place Dec. 6, with two shows at 2 and 4:30 p.m. at the Lakeway Activity Center.
The theme this year is “Christmas Around The World” and will feature holiday music from many different countries. The show is under the direction of Martha Kubala.
Admission is an unwrapped gift for a child up to age 17.
Green Santa organizers know they have been collecting and distributing toys to underprivileged families in the Lake Travis area each of the last 16 Christmas seasons, but it would be impossible for them to count the number of smiles on children’s faces.
The program, which the Hudson Bend Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary started in 1993, gave toys to seven needy families in its first year.
Jarvis, a founding member, still remembers one of the reactions by a child in one of those seven families.
“This kid just grabbed onto Santa and wouldn’t let go,” Jarvis said.
The auxiliary chose green to match the color of the department’s fire engines and to fit in with the Blue Santa and Brown Santa toy drives in the area, but in that first year Green Santa had to dress as a regular red velvet Santa.
After acquiring a green suit and enlisting Santa’s biggest helper, Kristi Smith of Lakeway, the program has built up steam over the years to match the growing need. Green Santa distributed toys to more than 160 families last year.
But Jarvis credits the community’s support for keeping the program going year after year.
Green Santa has relied on the generosity of thousands of new, unwrapped toy donations to give to children, but it couldn’t process all the gifts-in-waiting without a base of operations.
In some years, organizers would hold their breath until the last minute in hopes that a business owner would extend an offer of office space for them to use as a drop off point and storage facility that is dubbed Green Santa headquarters.
“We had a couple of touch-and-go moments,” over the years, Jarvis said.
Without fail, a local philanthropist always came through in the clutch with not only the office space but also water and electric utilities.
“You have no idea what this means for our program,” Jarvis said.
Green Santa headquarters are at the Towers of Lakeway, 1927 Lohmans Crossing Road, Suite 102, this year. New, unwrapped toys for infants through age 17 may be dropped off there or at any of the Lake Travis Fire Rescue facilities through Dec. 8 at:
• Administrative Offices — 15304 Pheasant Run;
• Station 602 — 1211 Lohmans Crossing Road, Lakeway;
• Station 603 — 13333 Texas 71 W., Bee Cave;
• Station 604 — 5939 Comanche Trail, Austin; and,
• Station 605 — 3048 Steiner Ranch Blvd., Austin.
Any toy donations that are dropped off after Dec. 8 will be given to Kristopher’s Gift and donated to Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas patients.
For information, call Jeanne Jarvis at 203-0062 or 266-2602.
Lakeway SingAlong performances in the spring and winter also have been vital to Green Santa’s sustaining power.
Audiences pay admission prices for the spring show that fund the winter show, and the cost of admission for the winter show is a new, unwrapped toy.
This year’s Sing Along of “Christmas Around the World” is set for 2 and 4:30 p.m. Dec. 6 at the Lakeway Activity Center, 105 Cross Creek Road.
Donations, of course, have been instrumental to operating such a large-scale endeavor. The number and consistency of toy donations amazes Jarvis.
“Oh you would not believe what this community comes out with in its support. They would come out of the woodwork to help a neighbor, and it’s not expected of anybody,” she said.
The thought of local children going without Christmas spurs both Jarvis and Smith to volunteer every year.
“I can’t imagine Christmas without gifts for children under the tree,” Jarvis said.
Smith was first asked to don the garb essential to the role 10 years ago by her late mother-in-law who realized she had the ideal personality. Smith’s stature also makes her one of the few who can wear the suit made from a fuzzy bathrobe.
“She plays the part to the hilt. She can ho-ho-ho with the best of them,” Jarvis said.
Smith, who made her availability during the Christmas season a condition of employment with a hearing aid company, travels to 32 countries around the world to distribute free hearing aids to needy children.
Despite her world travels, which Santa himself would admire, she still devotes time to a cause she believes in wholeheartedly.
“I was a kid who got to grow up and believe in Santa Claus and I want every kid to experience that,” she said.
Operating under the belief that it is better to give than receive, Smith finds the experience extremely rewarding.
“There’s not a dry eye in the room. [These families] are there so their children can still believe in Santa Claus when their kids might not have the opportunity to celebrate Christmas,” she said. “I’ll never give up the Santa suit.”
Families may come to pick up toys at Green Santa headquarters Dec. 19 and 20. Deadline for applications is Dec. 4.
“We figure, this year, the need will be overwhelming with the sagging economy,” Jarvis said. “I hope we have enough to go around this year.”