Compassionate Santa Services

Our mission is to bring unconditional love, joy and hope wrapped in a huge Santa hug to special needs children and their families 365 days a year!  Santa engages the child and family in a tender personal format that build upon past family traditions and looks tenderly to the future.

Compassionate Support for Special Children:

Santa-America tenderly serves three groups of very special children and their families.  We are referred by hospice and hospital staff, social workers, and special needs educators.  Santa works as part of their team to bring support to:

• Children in hospice or children with parents or grandparents in hospice
• Children in chronic pediatric or palliative care
• Children suffering from post traumatic stress

Our mission is to bring unconditional love, hope and joy to very special children and their families facing crisis—365 days a year.  Crisis does not take a vacation.  We will always visit families in hospice care whose loved one will die before the holiday season.  Santa continues to visit "Katrina Children" suffering post traumatic stress.

Santa's visit builds on family memories and traditions while creating new memories and traditions for the future.  Creating a living "Book of Memories" is so important for the child and family during trying times.

Santa's visit is built around over 30 specific data points about the child, siblings, parents, best friends, pets, favorite toys, TV and PC programs and games, past adventures and experiences, medical condition and treatment protocols where a supporting word from Santa can make the difficult a bit easier to bear.

Santa respects the spiritual values and beliefs of a family, and can function in a spiritual or secular context as directed by the family.  Over the years, Santa Claus has evolved into a magical friend who transcends faith, race, ethnicity, and gender.  He IS unconditional love, hope, and joy wrapped in a big Santa hug—the best medicine of all!

Of course, Santa will explore the child's "Wish List" and may read a traditional holiday story. Santa will spend about an hour with the child and family with special time set aside to visit siblings or best friends.  Santa may be accompanied by Mrs. Claus or an "Elf Assistant"—particularly for children under 3 years of age.

Santa-America believes that the same Santa who makes an initial visit "adopts" the family and makes all follow-on visits for consistency and credibility.  For hospice families, at least one bereavement period visit is recommended as part of ongoing support.  Since Santa's visits are free and not restricted by health insurance or government reimbursements, co-pays etc.  He can visit a family for as long as he's needed.  One Santa is making his 5th visit to a family who lost their daughter.  The surviving sibling will become one of Santa's volunteer elves and will join him in visiting other special children and their families.

Our "Special Gifts" Current and Planned:

Santa can ALWAYS bring a toy or candy cane as a gift for every child—including siblings or friends.  An "only child" can invite their 2-4 best friends.

Santa-America is also building special donor relationships to ensure our special children receive an age and gender appropriate gift (Try giving a teddy bear to a 7 year old boy!).  Also, many of our children are medicated and have restricted movements.  Santa must bring them a gift that engages their imaginations.