spreading holiday cheer
Help Operation Blue Santa deliver gifts of joy (and toys!) to Austin children
Dec 9, 2011 | 9:00 am
It all started with a couple of cops. They were patrolling their Austin beat, way back in the day (1972), when they realized that a lot of families in their patrol area would not have presents for their children, or even food, at Christmas.
Forty years ago, Operation Blue Santa began with those police officers handing out gifts to twenty families from the back of their patrol car. In the decades since, it has become a massive undertaking by the Austin Police Department that provides holiday presents for more than 15,000 Central Texas children.
Operation Blue Santa kicks off each year with Chuy's Giving to Children Parade, held the Saturday after Thanksgiving. All the toys collected during the parade are donated, and a huge toy drive commences throughout Austin. The Texas National Guard, Austin Fire Department and Austin Parks and Recreation have all gotten in on the act, and partner with OBS to help. It all culminates in Delivery Day, to be held this year on Saturday, December 17. On that day, a full holiday meal and wrapped gifts for each child under age 14 are delivered by volunteers from four different sites around town.
"For over thirty years, Operation Blue Santa has been bringing holiday cheer to the Austin community," says APD Chief Art Acevedo. "Please take the opportunity to participate in this time-honored Austin tradition. Get involved, make a difference and make a young person happy."
Chuy's got involved in 1987, when co-owner Mike Young partnered with KLBJ-FM radio to have a toy drive to benefit OBS. A couple of years later, Mike decided it was time to step it up a notch. He didn't just want to collect toys, he wanted to raise awareness — and collect a lot of toys.
So a couple of weeks before Christmas, Chuy's volunteers canvassed downtown Austin, passing out fliers asking people to bring a toy to work with them on a specified day, when the parade would come along and pick them up for Blue Santa. On that day Chuy's employees paraded up one side of Congress Avenue and down the other — along with Joe Sears of Greater Tuna, Marcia Ball, a fire truck and a giant three-man Santa Claus. Then-governor Bill Clements donated a giant teddy bear. The Chuy's Giving to Children Parade has been one of the city's most beloved holiday traditions ever since.
Volunteers are needed to help sort and package gifts, as well as make the delivery runs. You don't even have to sign up or set a specific time; just drop in at your convenience during the operating hours, at the Austin Police station located at 4101 South Industrial Drive, Suite 260. The hours are generally 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, but check the OBS calendar before you go. Groups of eight or more volunteers are asked to schedule a time.
You can also assist with the delivery on December 17. Right now, more deliveries are needed from the OBS warehouse on S. Industrial. Deliveries start at 7 or 8 a.m. depending on which of the four locations you deliver from, and after all the deliveries are completed volunteers are invited for a barbecue dinner and live music to celebrate.
Operation Blue Santa asks for the following donations:
- Unwrapped new toys (no weapon type toys)
- Donations by cash, check and credit card
- Non-perishable food items
- In-kind services
All donations are tax deductible. For more information, call 512-974-BLUE or visit www.bluesanta.org.