SPRINGFIELD — A large crowd of kids and their parents stormed the second floor of the Tower Square food court Saturday morning to rub elbows with the Big Guy himself — S. Claus, Esq. — eat some pancakes and sausage and soak up some Christmas cheer.
The YMCA of Greater Springfield’s 11th annual Pancakes with Santa celebration brought more than 600 children and their parents downtown to receive the toys the YMCA has collected throughout the year through its toys
YMCA of Greater Springfield Executive Director Kim Lavallee said the toys are stored in a bag for families in need who contact the YMCA throughout the year for help.
“We make a bag for children, for their age and their gender. We put in two toys for each kid,” she said. “Usually we mostly represent Springfield, but this year we’re finding that we have a lot of kids from Connecticut, Westfield and Holyoke. They come from everywhere.”
Lavallee said the YMCA receives phone calls throughout the year from parents asking for help.
“They call us and tell us their story. We do not hesitate to give. They don’t need to say anything, we will give it to you,” he said.
The YMCA says it has a high level of donor cooperation that makes this toy drive special.
“This year has been very good, we have done very well with the people who donated. People who see our toy bin boxes say, “Let me pick it up at my office.” So we’ve had a lot of collaboration,” Lavallee said.
In addition to the YMCA toy raffle and Pancakes with Santa, several businesses and institutions in town also brought their specialties to the party. City engineering firm Fuss and O’Neill sneaked some STEM education into their holiday activity.
“We’re building candy canes,” said Lara Sup, senior project manager. “But it’s related to STEM, so kids can learn to code. We’re using colored beads to write their names in Morse code.
The law firm of Pellegrini, Seeley, Ryan and Blakesly joined MOCHA, Men of Color Health Advisory and Spare Time Entertainment with free flyers and candy. Spare Time had two portable bowling alleys installed. Fotograf Lab LLC took digital photos of the photo booth and emailed them home. Raymond James Financial Services came to be part of the celebration and Springfield College students helped keep things in order. The Springfield Police Department sent two officers to mingle with the youths.
Other sponsors include the Springfield Thunderbirds, Toys for Tots, Farm Credit, Noonan Energy and Morgan Stanley.
Sisters of the Lambda Beta Sigma chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority took the children through a special “store” set up to allow them to shop for their mothers, fathers or grandparents. With adult products, kids could find something suitable and have it wrapped and ready under the tree.
Children’s author Laura Louise gave away copies of her third book in a trilogy about bullying. “They are based on my son, who is a Holyoke police officer, and his dog Fitzgerald, who is bullied at the dog academy because he has a disability,” she said. “Officer Tommy has Fitzgerald fitted with a blue boot and has worked hard, and is able to pass the academy and become the ‘Top Dog’.”
The third book also introduces Officer Tommy’s wife, Marion the Librarian.
“So we go into the libraries. My books have many legs,” he said. “They can go in a hundred different directions.”
YMCA CEO and President Dexter Johnson said businesses participating in the Pancakes with Santa celebration also have to bring something more to the table. Everyone had to offer something for the children, free of charge.
“We have a long list of private companies and vendors who want to be a part of the event, and we want them to be,” Dexter said. “But instead of trying to get people to come to your company, we want you to come with something for the kids. This event is about the kids. That’s why we put all this work into it.”