Contrary to popular belief, Santa’s Yuletide journey around the Earth did not end when his reindeers’ hooves touched down outside his workshop in the wee hours of Dec. 26.
Jolly old St. Nick still needed to visit a special group of children, so on Jan. 7, he harnessed up his flying, antlered friends, shined up his jingle bells and headed to the River City for his grand finale.
On a raw and blustery Saturday morning, The Jacksonville Bar Association Young Lawyers Section, in conjunction with the Northeast Florida Paralegal Association, hosted the annual Holidays in January at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens to help Family Support Services of North Florida.
Santa brought the cold North Pole air along with his sack full of presents, but everyone who participated left with warmth in their hearts.
Holidays in January is presented by the YLS to bring holiday cheer to boys and girls who were placed into foster care over the holidays.
While the season creates a groundswell of giving and good cheer, children in the foster care system often are overlooked.
Placing a child into foster care is always an upsetting event. Removing a child from their home over the holidays can be particularly distressing.
Family Support Services is the lead agency for foster care, adoption and family preservation in Duval and Nassau counties.
It provides services and programs to help prevent abuse and neglect, promote a healthy family environment and care for children in foster care.
For the past 10 years, the YLS and the nonprofit have teamed up for this event, which is beloved among the YLS board members. Many bring their families to assist and partake in the festivities.
The children who participated in Holidays in January were removed from their homes during the holidays and did not experience the holiday tradition of opening presents under the tree with family and friends on Christmas morning.
Every year the YLS and the Northeast Florida Paralegals Association aim to change that.
Seventeen boys and girls braved the frigid temperatures for a day of crafts, food and holiday fun.
Volunteers from the paralegals association provided games, cookie decorating, face painting and other holiday activities for the children to enjoy.
While the paralegals were entertaining the guests, the YLS was preparing for the arrival of the big man himself.
Enlisted to assist by the powers that be up North, section members spent much of the week leading up to Holidays in January purchasing riding toys for toddlers, tricycles for children who were a little bit older and scooters for the “big kids.”
Accompanying the new wheels were helmets for the kids to wear.
Everything from the food to the gifts were provided free of charge through donations of time and money by the YLS, paralegals and local law firms.
The highlight of the day was, of course, a surprise visit from YLS President Christian George –– I mean Santa himself –– who, after navigating his reindeer through the wildlife at the zoo, began passing out gifts to the guests.
After watching the children take a spin around the block on their new tricycles, it was time for St. Nick to head home to begin preparing for next year’s festivities.
Our guests left with new scooters, helmets, goodie bags and through the generosity of the Jacksonville Zoo, a complimentary pass for the children and their foster families to return to the zoo to enjoy all it has to offer.
While guests departed with new toys and smiling faces, we went home knowing we brought some light and holiday magic into the young people’s lives.
The YLS prides itself on year-round philanthropy throughout Northeast Florida. Holidays in January is an event where we witness firsthand the joy experienced by those we are helping.
Watching the kids light up when Santa unexpectedly arrives with their new toys is the epitome of what the holiday spirit should feel like for us all.
With the tree down and decorations packed away, most everyone feels the melancholy associated with the end of the holiday season.
We miss the music, lights and parties associated with the season and I think many of us miss the spirit of kindness and generosity between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.
Holidays in January is an event that allows us to hold onto the holiday spirit just a bit longer. It also provides joy and happiness to a group of children who are experiencing uncertainty and turmoil in their lives.
In Charles Dickens’ holiday story “A Christmas Carol,” Ebenezer Scrooge proclaims after his unlikely transformation from his ghostly encounters the previous night, “I will honor Christmas in my heart ... and try to keep it all the year.”
Holidays in January is Jacksonville’s young attorneys’ attempt to do just that.