About Us
Our mission
Each year, hundreds of students are nominated to receive services from Alvin Blue Santa during the Christmas season. We currently offer two wonderful programs during Christmastime: the Alvin Blue Santa Toy Drive for K-6th-grade students, and the Alvin Blue Santa Christmas Shopping Experience for 7th through 12th graders.
Our nominees are selected by AISD School Counselors and Teachers; each student is chosen because of at-risk/disadvantaged/ poverty status. At this time, we can provide for around 100 nominees each year - solely funded by individual donations and local business sponsors, but there have always been more students than there are funds, and some nominated children are turned away each year.
Our mission is to provide for every nominated student from AISD and the surrounding communities every year. It is a big and lofty goal, but we believe that there are still enough good people with enough Christmas Spirit to make it happen! Won't you consider donating, volunteering, or being a corporate sponsor?
Our history
The Alvin Blue Santa Program was founded in 1995 by officers of the Alvin Police Department Bike Patrol Unit. The purpose was to raise funds in order to purchase bicycles for children in the community who would not be getting much for Christmas. It was also an opportunity for these children and their families to have positive interaction with their local police officers.
The first year, officers and volunteers delivered around a dozen bicycles to children in the community. From 199 to 2003, the number of bikes and helmets given increased as donations came in from individuals, civic organizations, and local businesses. Another boost to the program took place due to an interactive partnership with the Houston Police Department’s Blue Santa Program and then-president Officer Joe Pyland and coordinator Officer Jack Hanagriff. Bikes received from HPD’s program almost doubled the number of bikes given away those years.
In 2003, the brand new coordinator, Denise Stanaland, suggested and coordinated the first Alvin Blue Santa Motorcycle Ride. It was a huge success, raising thousands of dollars for the program and was the organization’s primary fund raiser. In 2013, we held our 10th Annual Alvin Blue Santa Motorcycle Ride which included a live band, silent and live auctions, vendor booths, raffles, door prizes, and trophies presented to individual riders as well as motorcycle clubs. Since our ride was “blue” (law enforcement), only law-abiding motorcycle clubs would participate. We were blessed with the support of law enforcement motorcycle clubs such as The Blue Knights, Los Canales, Los Familia, Thin Blue Line and faith-driven clubs like the Christian Motorcycle Association.
In the beginning, the program operated under the umbrella of the Alvin Police Officers Association, but as of 2011, we were awarded 501(C)(3) tax exempt status as a non-profit organization. Though we now operate independently as a non-profit organization, we continue to have volunteers from local law enforcement agencies engage with our participants annually, and we couldn't be happier about that.
We no longer host the motorcycle ride, and have replaced the bike and helmet drive with two outstanding programs: the Annual Alvin Blue Santa Toy Drive for K-6th grade children, and our Annual Christmas Shopping Experience for 7th through 12th grade students. Additionally, we have new programs coming soon that will extend our outreach to year-round giving opportunities. We hope you'll stick around and help us grow!
How We Do It
Ever wonder how Santa gets gifts to every child in the world in one night? The answer is LOTS of HELP!
The same is true of Alvin Blue Santa: We could not pull off this miracle every year without a small army of volunteers, individual donors, and business sponsors. Please consider contributing!
About the kids: as mentioned above, the kids are nominated at school to receive services. Because the need is so great, we often have a waiting list. We've heard over the years that many of the younger children look forward to the day when they are old enough to participate in our Shopping Experience, and that warms our hearts. In order to make the program as fair as possible, we do not take personal applications for services - everyone must be nominated at school, and we work on a two-year cycle, meaning that if a child receives services from us this year, he or she will have to wait two years before they can participate again. In this way, we are able to share the love with more families, since we have historically been unable to serve every needy child from our nominee pool in one year.
In the past, we have provided our young shoppers with $100 each, with which to purchase gifts. Many, many of them chose, and still choose, to buy groceries, toiletries, shoes, and clothes for their siblings and parents. With the rising cost of all goods, we have determined that it is time to increase our budget to meet our participants needs and make their experience as special as it should be. This year, we have increased the amount to $150 per student, and we are very excited to see how this increase impacts our participants!
There is nothing more magical for a child than Christmas; nothing more hopeful than the heart of a child on Christmas morning. Alvin Blue Santa, under the compassionate directorship of our own "Mrs. Claus," Denise Stanaland, strives to create Christmas magic and to stir joyful hope in the hearts of the at-risk and disadvantaged children of our area through these wonderful programs, with help from people who remember what is was like to be a child on Christmas morning. If you would like to help Alvin Blue Santa in any capacity, please contact us. The kids are counting on us!
Won't you consider donating?
Stories like these are precious to us. Help us make a difference in the lives of children from our local community this Christmas with a donation of any amount.
