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SANTA NEEDS HELPERS THIS YEAR

November 15, 2007 12:35 am

BY AMY FLOWERS UMBLE

A local 10-year-old boy says he got a late start getting on Santa's nice list this year.

But he hopes if he's "extra good" between now and Christmas, the jolly man in red will bring cars, flashlights, sign-language flash cards and pants with elastic waistbands to fit the boy's colostomy bag.

"I don't hear very well," the boy wrote on his application for the American Red Cross' annual Letters to Santa program, "so whatever you bring me, make sure it makes a loud noise."

His 4-year-old brother has Angelman's Syndrome, a developmental disability marked with speech and physical impairments, and wants toys he can hold on to while he tries to walk.

The letters can make you cry, said Teri Fahnestock, an administrative assistant at Rappahannock Electric Cooperative and a Santa with the program.

This is her second year choosing kids for her company to sponsor, and Fahnestock quickly rifled through one of several large three-ring binders filled with letters.

The cooperative raises money through the year and adopts 50 kids through Letters to Santa. Fahnestock takes kids who are part of large families. They're often the last ones picked, because individuals can't sponsor numerous siblings.

Fahnestock spent her first year as chairman of the company's Project Big Heart crying as she read the requests for coats, Bibles and even getting a father out of jail.

"Now, I don't even read 'em. I just pick up the names," she said yesterday, the first day to adopt kids through the program.

Adoption days run through Nov. 30. There are about 760 kids to be sponsored this year, said Kristen Taylor, volunteer services coordinator for the area Red Cross chapter.

It helps to have companies like REC come in and take a bunch of families at once, Taylor said, but individuals can come and choose just one child, too.

It's the perfect project for a neighborhood, a poker club or a girls'-night-out group, said Lori Weresnick, volunteer services coordinator for the Spotsylvania County Department of Social Services.

She runs that agency's Holiday Hope, and the Letters to Santa program sponsors many of their children.

But with a list of more than 3,000 people needing help this holiday season, Weresnick needs more sponsors.

She has more than 700 families sponsored, but some regular sponsors have backed out this year, citing economic troubles.

Taylor doesn't yet know how many people will adopt the Red Cross' kids. She says she'll be biting her nails, waiting until every child has been adopted.

"Many of these kids are from families that are struggling financially," Taylor said. "And those children certainly deserve a good holiday, too."