Daly City Celebrates 75 Years of Spreading Holiday Cheer

This year marks the 75^th Anniversary of the establishment of Operation Santa Claus, a nonprofit organization committed to bringing the holiday spirit to individuals and families who need assistance during the holiday season. Established in 1949, Operation Santa Claus is comprised of volunteers that include community members, nonprofits, local businesses, North County Fire Authority, and City of Daly City local government personnel from the Departments of Recreation Services, Finance, Police, and Fire.

"The Holidays are a time to spread joy, especially to those most in need," said Mayor Juslyn C. Manalo. "Too easily we can take for granted how blessed many of us are, but we must not forget that hard times can befall so many in our community. Operation Santa Claus is a program that ensures that children and families will get to experience the joy of the Holiday Season."

This evening, the yearly Operation Santa Claus delivery of toys to Daly City/Colma/Broadmoor families in need will take place, and all are invited to assist in toy delivery. Volunteers are asked to sign up by visiting https://bit.ly/DalyCityOSC2024Delivery or scanning the QR code with your smartphone. Please arrive by 6:15pm at the Daly City Fire Station #94, located at 444 Gellert Blvd.

About Operation Santa Claus

In 1949, a group of Daly City Civic Leaders decided to put together a committee to bring the holiday spirit to those individuals and families that were struggling during the post World War II economic times. The original three organizers of the Operation Santa Claus Program were Elmer Kennedy (Daly City Fire Chief), John Muller, and Jack Colhurst. The committee then grew to add other local businessmen such as Peter Markovich, Al Belotz, and Ralph Hall. Fire Department personnel that assisted Chief Kennedy were Mel Hanson, Lyle Church, and Bob Greenstrand. Together this group of dedicated individuals pooled the resources and donations from local service clubs, churches, business organizations, firefighters, and other Daly City employees to make Christmas brighter for those people in need.

Originally, it was the goal of the Operation Santa Claus Program to provide toys and a food basket, containing a turkey and all the trimmings to each family. Local schools held canned food drives to help with the program. From the 1940's through the 1960's, recipients had applied directly to the Committee and each applicant was contacted and a decision made if they truly needed help. Once all the toys and food baskets were packaged, firefighters and City workers used their trucks to load and deliver all the presents. Today, Operation Santa Claus continues to meet the goals of the original committee. All persons who work toward the causes of our program do so on their own time and at their own expense. All of the donations that are collected are used to purchase new toys (3 for each child) for the less fortunate in the Daly City, Broadmoor, and Colma areas. Operation Santa Claus is not affiliated with any other holiday giving program (i.e. Toys for Tots, etc.) and pays no salaries or expenses for any of its many volunteers.

Beginning in the 1970's, the Daly City Community Service Center took over the tedious task of screening potential applicants to determine their needs and decide whether they qualified for our program. Confidentiality is a major component of Operation Santa Claus and, even though we still deliver our holiday packages to the homes of the recipients, only addresses are used to direct our volunteers. Thanks to the Community Service Center, toys, and food certificates are assigned to meet the family's needs in terms of the age and sex of the children, as well as the number of persons who will need to be fed for the Christmas Meal.

The Daly City Fire Department is a major partner in Operation Santa Claus. Firefighters are in charge of the toy collection, purchase, storage, packing, and delivery components of our program. Also, they provide a working space to sort and bag the toys for our recipients, as well as the drive-thru area where volunteers pick-up the sacks of toys on delivery night. Year-round storage of excess toys and bikes is also the responsibility of the Daly City Fire Department.

Operation Santa Claus continues to be a grass roots, community-based program that screens its recipients and helps those truly needy families and individuals in the Daly City, Broadmoor, and Colma areas. From its original inception back in 1949, right up to the present day, Operation Santa Claus maintains a partnership between the community, business, and local government for the ultimate benefit of our less fortunate citizens during each Holiday Season. It is a success story for people working together to help their neighbors during this special time each year.