Santa Bob Elkin
Vice President,  Disaster Relief for Children
Tampa, Florida
813-230-9254
santa@santaatb.com

Santa America continues to expand our mission to bring Love, Hope and Joy to the many thousands of special needs children and their families.

The mission of “Disaster Relief for Children” is centered on visits to families in temporary shelters, and will bring Love, Hope and Joy to children undergoing the stress and emotional trauma caused by a natural disaster. Our special focus will be on bringing toys to replace those lost in the disaster Toys, through the eyes of a child are an enabling coping friend, the source of their dreams, their make believe, their play time, their world! And when Santa himself, the most recognized symbol of love in the world, arrives to personally give them a big hug, along with that special toy or two, it is very calming and reassuring experience to a child who has lost everything. Mom and Dad like it too!
Relief agencies and emergency response workers properly deliver first priority necessities, medical care, food, water, clothing, and shelter. Our mission is to build on these critical relief efforts by bringing Love, Hope and Joy wrapped in a big warm reassuring Santa hug and represented by a special toy from Santa himself!

Santa America’s experience visiting with disaster children goes back to the days of our beginnings. Santa visited thousands of Katrina Children” in FEMA camps and hospitals, bringing toys to displaced children who had lost their homes and in many cases, members of their families. Santa also visited with “Katrina Children” in cities all across the USA, where children and families had been relocated.

In May of 2011, Santa volunteers with the “Lone Star Santas” from Texas, acted quickly to deliver toys to the site of a major disaster, Joplin Missouri. On their arrival, they knew that they were bringing unconditional Love, Hope and Joy from Santa to children, families and emergency responders. Santa is “Hope” that everything will be okay. Children received a very special toy, the one Santa, himself, had brought just for them to help them on their way to recovery.
Thanks to the leadership of “Lone Star Santas” and their “Convoy of Toys,” we are creating a regional support model to serve our special children and their families. We will be enlisting the support of regional Santa organizations throughout the USA to join this effort.
Santas will receive special volunteer disaster training, and will be supported while they travel to disaster relief areas to deliver Love, Hope and Joy wrapped up in a warm gentle Santa hug. The special toys they will bring and the happy sound of children at play are major steps toward their community’s recovery.

Click on thumbnails below to see enlarged photos of:
Lone Star Santas Toy Convoy to Joplin, Missouri.

[nggallery id=9]

Click on thumbnails below to see enlarged photos of:
Lone Star Santas Toy Convoy to Bastrop, Texas.

[nggallery id=10]