Vandenberg Air Force Base service members brought a little extra holiday cheer to youth at the Boys & Girls Club and children at Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria with a COVID-19 safe gift delivery before Christmas.
For years, Vandenberg has brought more than 100 kids to the base for Operation Kids Christmas, an event that involves gifts, visits with Santa, arts and crafts, and more. But for obvious reasons, COVID-19 put a halt to the holiday tradition this year.
Inspired by the spirit behind Operation Kids Christmas, Vandenberg Top 3 member Peter Pleasanton had the idea to reach out to local agencies and find a way to still bring some joy to local children who might not otherwise have gifts under the tree. Vandenberg Top 3 is a private organization with a mission to positively influence and impact Vandenberg and the local community.
“The way we ran the private organization had to change because of COVID: the way we held meetings, the way we did a lot of things around base,” Pleasanton said. “But we didn’t want, because of fear, to avoid trying to give back to the community. So we started looking at, how can we? Is there any way that we can create some Christmas cheer in a time that it’s escaping us a bit?”
That’s when the Vandenberg Top 3 members got in contact with Boys & Girls Club Administrator of Programs and Services Anna Libbon. Pleasanton and a few other members dropped off dozens of bags of gifts at the Boys & Girls Club’s Santa Maria location, and Libbon then took extras over to its Guadalupe location. The members also brought 15 $50 gift cards for the teens at the club.
“A lot of times what happens is the teens kind of miss out because everyone’s so focused on the young children,” Libbon said. “We do have teens here that are very needy and would definitely appreciate something like that.”
The members additionally sponsored a family in need with a $100 gift certificate.
Pleasanton said that going into the holiday season, Vandenberg Top 3 “didn’t have a whole lot of funding as a private org, because our main fundraisers kind of dried up due to COVID.”
But by working with one of the main coordinators for Operation Kids Christmas, Paulette Taylor, Pleasanton and his fellow organizers were able to gather enough gifts to put some smiles on the faces of Boys & Girls Club members.
“She was able to get me in touch with some of the leftover gifts that we hadn’t passed out for the years past,” he said. “She was still getting contacted by all these vendors. They kept sending her some items. … So that’s how we collected the amount of stuff that we did for the Boys & Girls Club.”
In order to comply with COVID-19 safety requirements, the gift drop-off was quick and socially distanced.
“When I coordinated with the agency they said, OK, we’ll take your temperature and make sure everyone is wearing masks, keeping our distance, hand sanitizer before and after, and that’s what we did,” Pleasanton said. “Much to our pleasant surprise, some of the kiddos asked if they could take pictures with us. We kept our distance and took a couple snaps. The kids made a nice card for us, which was really cute. It was great.”
The airmen then made their way to Marian Regional Medical Center, where they presented hospitalized children with stuffed animals to make their stay a bit brighter. Pleasanton worked with the hospital’s foundation to make sure the stuffed animals were clean and safe to donate.
“They said yes, absolutely,” he said. “They were very gracious.”
For Pleasanton and the other Vandenberg Top 3 members who made the gift donation possible, it was a moment of joy to round out an otherwise challenging year.
“With all the chatter around COVID, there are a lot of comments of people just feeling down and out, like, ‘Oh gosh, what a 2020 it’s been.’ Not even making jokes about it—just flat-out saying they don’t feel like it’s Christmas,” Pleasanton said. “A lot of people aren’t able to see family, they’re not able to travel as much, and it felt great to think that maybe we had the opportunity to actively create that holiday cheer and lift some spirits.”
Highlights
• Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Santa Barbara County’s annual Christmas Wishes gift drive saw record-breaking donations this year, according to a Dec. 22 announcement from CASA. The Christmas Wishes gift drive has been around for more than 14 years, but this year saw unprecedented need, CASA Executive Director Kim Colby Davis said in a statement. “We have been overwhelmed with the community’s response to this year’s event,” Davis said. CASA worked in collaboration with Child Welfare Services and other partner agencies “to fill the ‘Christmas Wishes’ of every child in the court’s care due to abuse, neglect, or abandonment,” the statement added.
• The city of Lompoc announced the winners of the Lompoc Beautification and Appearance Commission’s Holiday Decoration Contest, giving out titles to both residential and nonresidential decorators. La Purisima School won best overall in the nonresidential category, while The Box Shop won first place, The Green House second, and Lompoc Fuel third. “The commission would like to thank everyone who took the time to put up lights and nominate their friends and neighbors,” city officials said in a statement. “Unfortunately, due to COVID, the contest had to be scaled back this year and the judging handled in a new way. However, the showing of holiday spirit in Lompoc was impressive, as always.”
Staff Writer Malea Martin wrote this week’s Spotlight. Send hot tips about businesses, nonprofits, and good samaritans to spotlight@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Dec 31, 2020 – Jan 7, 2021.
