11 Days of Giving - Day 8 - Santa's Anonymous
EDMONTON, AB – The Concordia University of Edmonton Department of Athletics & Recreation highlights Day 8 of the Thunder’s 11 Days of Giving campaign, as the student-athletes and teams have come together during this holiday season to give back to our community.
The Men’s Basketball team went on a mission to help the kids of Edmonton by volunteering in the warehouse to receive, sort, and package deliveries for 630 CHED Santa’s Anonymous. Santa’s Anonymous has been an Edmonton tradition since 1955, and has the mission to “to see every child receive a new toy at Christmas.”. For this year, Santa’s Anonymous was able to provide toys for over 20,000 kids.
Thunder Head Coach Reagan Wood spoke passionately about this initiative, stating “In a year as challenging as 2020 has been, it was great to take the time to do something as positive and rewarding as volunteering for Santa’s Anonymous. The opportunity for our team to help make Christmas happen, even in a small way, for many families in need was awesome. There are over 25,000 families in the Edmonton area that need help from Santa’s Anonymous to make Christmas special and it was a privilege for us to be involved. This is definitely a project I look forward to building on in the years to come and grow our volunteer presence in the community.”.
For these student-athletes, it was a pleasant experience to get involved in the community. Carsten Ritter, a 3rd year forward with the Thunder, said “It felt great to volunteer for Santa’s Anonymous and help out others who need the support especially in these times with the pandemic. I look forward to doing it again!”. This was echoed by first year student-athlete Jaxon Littlefair, saying “I am grateful to have been a part of such an awesome opportunity to give back to the community. Seeing all the different people, stages and organization it takes to bring Christmas to each and every family shows how much of an impact people coming together can have. It’s important to give back because through the help of volunteers at Santa’s Anonymous countless families are made to feel special and have joy at Christmas.”.
Additional information for CHED 630 Santa’s Anonymous can be found at https://www.santasanonymous.ca/.
More about the Thunder 11 Days of Giving Campaign:
With all of the struggles of the world in 2020, the student-athletes, coaches, and staff of the Thunder Department of Athletics & Recreation wanted to take this time of pause to get involved in our local community, and make it a better place right in time for the holidays. The 11 Days of Giving campaign challenged all of our student-athletes and teams to find a unique way to take advantage of this gift of time due to the COVID-19 pandemic and find a way to help those who need it most around us.