Boyle’s Santas Anonymous is on the hunt for committee members to help organize the project.
Terry Mudryk-Harbarenko said she has been managing Santas Anonymous in Boyle for about six years, and she can’t remember when she got involved in the first place.
This year, because she has opened her own shop in the village, she won’t have time to do the behind-the-scenes work, and she is hoping someone else can take the reins to Santas’ sleigh.
She also noted that the former committee members who were “hardcore helpers” in the past cannot do the work this year.
“It’s going to be a bit of a challenge, I guess, because of the economy and the way things are, just to raise that extra money,” Mudryk-Harbarenko said. “It’s quite time-consuming.”
Santas Anonymous provides local families with baskets of food and toys. The baskets each include a Christmas dinner and breakfast for the family, plus gift cards to the Boyle Co-op that can be used for food or gas. Children also receive stockings filled with stocking stuffers, and two or three presents each.
Mudryk-Harbarenko said 62 families received baskets last year in their catchment area, which includes Boyle and Grassland.
She said the committee of six would realistically have to be in place by Oct. 25 in order to get everything done before Christmas. She noted that’s even a late start, as normally fundraising teams are approaching donors in September.
“We’ve had such a successful run, that people have appreciated the Santas Anonymous team that has worked so hard for us the last however many years,” Mudryk-Harbarenko said. “We all feel badly that we can’t do it any longer, but hopefully somebody can step up and continue that service.”
Anyone wishing to get involved can phone Mudryk-Harbarenko at 780-689-6736.
