By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Halloween is just a few days away, and that means that Kisha Nichols and Jennifer Ostrowski, who coordinate the Dear Santa BG drive, are starting to think about Christmas.
The two Kenwood teachers addressed this month’s Bowing Green Board of Education meeting to talk about the effort.
Dear Santa Society “provides Christmas assistance to kids in the Bowling Green schools,” Nichols said. That assistance takes the form of food, warm clothing personal hygiene items, and toys.
It takes hundreds of volunteer hours and hundreds of donors, Ostrowski said.
Last year, the Bowing Green Chapter of the Dear Santa Society helped 56 families with 151 children. The teachers told BG Independent last November that the aim was to raise $560 for each family.
Those funds are raised through donations and through fundraisers.
A fundraiser at the Sundae Station has already been held. Others are scheduled at: Beckett’s Burger Bar, Nov. 1; Sam Bs, Nov. 8; and Juniper Brewing Company, Nov. 13.
The organizers said that it’s important for them to identify families who may be in need. Anyone, including a family in need, can submit a request for assistance by email to dearsantabg@gmail.com or by sending a letter to P.O. Box 513, Bowling Green, Ohio, 43402.
Letters have also been sent out to all families. Teachers have letters they can send to families, and information will be available at student conferences.
Student groups provide a lot of sweat equity to make the program work. The softball team, for example, showed up to wrap hundreds of gifts last year, and the hockey team helped make deliveries.
The Future Farmers of America provide fruit, and then space for storage once their fruit sale is done.
The youth hockey Ice Cats take on purchasing the hams and delivering them.
For the past several years, Dear Santa has worked with the Brown Bag Food Project to provide a holiday meal to go along with the ham.
The program, which is affiliated with the Dear Santa Society in Philadelphia, has been active in BG for 16 years.
Donations to the Dear Santa program may be sent through Venmo to Dear-Santa, or through PayPal to donate@dearsantasociety.org. Donors should note that the contributions are for the BG Chapter.
