Santa's Workshop: Hundreds get gifts

Need is higher: About 1,300 kids on the list

Volunteer Gia Kimbrell, 16, checks a bag of presents before passing them on to a local family Wednesday. Del Norte Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

But the gift-giving will likely spill into today as “head elf” Ron Phillips was still buying dozens of presents Wednesday afternoon.

“We want to make sure everyone is taken care of,” said Phillips, the special projects coordinator for Rural Human Services.

RHS operates Santa’s Workshop each holiday season to provide presents to needy children. This couldn’t be done without the support of local residents, some of whom brought in last-minute presents and monetary donations on Tuesday.

“We couldn’t do it without the support of the community,” Phillips said. “We appreciate it.”

The number of children in need of gifts spiked this year, up from 1,100 last Christmas.

“It’s the economy, there’s no doubt about that,” Phillips said.

That reason was echoed by those picking up bags of wrapped presents for their children Wednesday.

Michelle Collar is all smiles as she leaves Santa’s Workshop with presents for her five children Wednesday afternoon: “It seems like a cool thing.” Del Norte Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

“Everyone in the community told me about it,” Collar said. “It seems like a cool thing.”

Money has been tight as her  boyfriend is unemployed and looking for work while she takes care of the children, she said.

Her youngest child was born prematurely in September and wasn’t released from the hospital until late in November. That has been a drain on their finances, Collar said.

“I don’t think they would have had a good Christmas,” she said, had it not been for Santa’s Workshop.

Renea Downard was picking up presents for her two children. This is her second year utilizing Santa’s Workshop.

“Work is hard to find,” Downard said.

Reach Kelley Atherton at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it