Women's Club Lets Children in Need Know There is Indeed a Santa Claus

While holiday shoppers have been busy in recent days and weeks scurrying from store to store to find those hard-to-find, just-right gifts, the New Tampa Junior Woman’s Club (NTJWC) has been busy too, gathering toys for families who don't have the means to scurry from store to store for gifts — or even pay the electric bill in some cases.

The NTJWC, a subgroup of the General Federation of Woman’s Clubs (GFWC), resumed its annual duties of trying to help those in need have a pleasant Christmas with the Special Santa toy drive.

The group joined forces with several area businesses such as Publix, Bangs and Blondes, New Tampa Foot and Ankle, New Tampa Wellness Spa and Triple-A South, among others, to set up drop boxes throughout New Tampa to help needy children.

But few places could be found with more needy youngsters than Mort Elementary, 1806 E. Bearss Ave. There, the NTJWC held court last week to allow students to have their Christmas toys, albeit without the Christmas tree.

In a room at the school, toys and dolls covered several tables and lined each of the four walls. There was good reason for so many toys to be at the school. Melissa Enzor, a long-time social worker at , noted the majority of students are at or below the federal guidelines for poverty.

"We are almost all free or reduced lunches," Enzor said of the student population. "We have 875 kids and maybe 15 [fully pay for] lunch."

Enzor and other faculty at the school usually have an idea of what presents to give which students. Some, though almost all are from underprivileged homes, are worse off than others.

"We hear from some students about how they couldn't do homework the night before because they didn't have any power and didn't have lights to study by," Enzor said.

Enzor also works directly with some parents that she has built a relationship with, some of which are homeless or living out of their cars.

"Some of these families don't celebrate Christmas because they don't have any money to buy their children a gift," Enzor said. "Some are lucky to have furniture, like a couch or a bed. Some are lucky to just have a roof over their heads."

There are 12 businesses that assist the NTJWC in making sure every child in need knows that, yes, there is a Santa Claus.

"The [NTJWC] has adopted us for over 10 years," Enzor said. "We couldn't do this without our community partners, the businesses that contribute, companies like Achieve Global, Florida Hospital, the Girl Scouts and Time-Life Customer Service."

Enzor uses the Special Santa effort to teach students that not everything is for free. Most of the students who will receive a gift are asked to bring in one non-perishable food item, usually a canned item. Those items are then given to local food banks, Enzor noted.

"It helps children in several ways," Enzor said. "It shows them how to be grateful for what they receive and teaches them to pay for it. The food we collect goes to the [student] families in need. It teaches them the power of kindness."