Kids with special needs get the chance to meet Santa

With some singing to “Jingle Bells” and others running around brandishing balloons and dolls, kids and volunteer “elves” filled the Oak Room at the Ramada Plaza Regina on Tuesday morning, just waiting for a chance to meet Santa Claus.

For 31 years, SaskTel has put on its Santa Face-to-Face event and invited kids with special needs and disabilities for a private meeting with Saint Nick.

“A lot of these kids don’t have this opportunity to be able to come together and feel just like everyone else. That’s what we’re really trying to bring to them here is an opportunity where they are free to explore and celebrate in a safe environment, free of any type of judgment,” explained Tony Balez, one of the volunteers from the SaskTel Pioneers.

Balez has been helping out at the event for three years and said every year it gets more satisfying because, at the end of the morning, the kids leave happy and full of joy.

“It fills me with a lot of personal joy to be able to spend time with these kids, knowing that they really appreciate it,” said Balez.

When it’s their turn, the kids are taken upstairs with their personal elf to meet Mrs. Claus and Santa himself.

Hope McCheyne, the “head elf” for the program, said the kids are taken in to meet and talk to Santa, but beforehand he checks his “naughty or nice” book. It contains each of the kids’ names and their information.

“He’s able to treat them as they should be — very special, in an environment where they’re very comfortable, they’re with their friends, and they get to enjoy themselves and just be free. Don’t we all want that? Christmastime is the time for that,” explained McCheyne.