SAN ANTONIO – The Blue Santa program is an effort by San Antonio Police Department to help local children and families in and around San Antonio, making sure there are no Christmas trees left without a present.
“It is a joy, it gives us an opportunity to give back,” SAPD Officer Alonzio Hardin said.
On Monday, Hardin was at the Blue Santa warehouse as a Blue Santa helper.
“The Blue Santa program is a program that was begun in the seventies, consisting of officers who were giving back to the community. What we do, is we work at this warehouse, as you can see, and this is where we make bags for children,” Officer Menell Orosco said.
The warehouse is full of everything from basketballs to barbies and the goal is to help thousands of children.
“Right now (we’re able to help) over 5,000 kids by the end. We hope to be able to help a little over 7,000 children that will receive gifts from Blue Santa,” Orosco said.
If you want to help local families this Christmas there are ways you can still help out. You can donate money by clicking here, or you can donate gifts.
“They (people donating) can go to any substation nearest them, any police substation at any hour and we accept any type of donations. They can just come up and just drop them off and we’ll be more than glad to receive,” Orosco said.
As for Officer Hardin, it is his sixth year on the Blue Santa team and he doesn’t plan to stop helping out anytime soon.
“Taking the bags to the families, knocking on the door -- you just see the joy and excitement when they see a police officer standing with gifts. And so it’s just a beautiful feeling,” Hardin said.