Town of Castle Rock - File #: ID 2018-136

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To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council

From: Karla McCrimmon, Court Administrator

Title

Update: Santa’s Second Chance 2018

Body

________________________________________________________________________________

Executive Summary

I would like to thank you for your ongoing support of Santa’s Second Chance and give you an update on this year’s program.

On Saturday, December 1, over 80 volunteers stormed Walmart in search of the perfect present to help fill the wish lists for over 270 kids in the Town of Castle Rock. Wish lists are collected from 20 different Castle Rock schools and the Department of Human Services.

The gifts are courtesy of Santa’s Second Chance - a unique program through which the Town works with hundreds of kindhearted residents to ensure children in need receive something from Santa.

Residents are involved from beginning to end each year. First, to fund the program, they elect to allocate their traffic ticket fines to Santa’s Second Chance. Within the annual budget approval, Town Council allows up to $10,000 worth of fines taken in over a six-week period each fall to be allocated to the program. Along with that $10,000, Walmart donated $2,150 through a community grant for a total of $12,150.

In addition to the money provided for by traffic tickets, Town employees support the program through an “adopt-a-child-for-the-holidays” format. Town employees adopted and purchased gifts for over 80 children of families in need. Several of these children were foster kids in the Castle Rock area, and others were children who are receiving assistance through the Department of Human Services. Thank you to all the Town employees and their families who adopted a child this year!

Another 60 volunteers gathered at the courthouse to wrap each of the presents. Volunteers include several families that have been helping with the program from its inception. Additional volunteers include: a local youth group, a girls’ hockey team, the Blue Knights, Town employees, Friends for Change, Douglas County and Castle View high school FBLA clubs, employees from Parker Municipal Court, Victims Advocate volunteers, Police Explorers, Teen Court Volunteers, Police Community Safety Volunteers and 10 students from World Link, an organization that supports exchange students in America from around the globe. These students were specifically fun to work with, as some of them are not familiar with the concept of volunteering in their home countries. Other exchange students had never wrapped a present before but had become professionals by the end of the day after wrapping presents for all 270 kiddos. As a reward for all of their shopping and wrapping, volunteers enjoyed pizza courtesy of several of the local pizza restaurants in town.

On December 2, several more volunteers came in and helped organize all the presents for delivery. On Monday, December 3, yet another group of fabulous volunteers helped deliver presents to all of the schools.

On Thursday, December 6, Police Explorers (junior police volunteers) delivered about 80 gifts to the homes of many more kids.

Court Employees Amber Reilmann, Deborah Westwood, Julia Prewitt and Camarin Zanger did an absolutely phenomenal job in coordinating this really big program this year, with its many moving pieces!

There are so many people who make this program possible including Town Council, the Department of Human Services, the schools, the Police Department, Town employees and over 170 total repeat community volunteers.

This is the Town of Castle Rock. We support each other in this community, and we do really big things!

History

Terry Foose-Williams, a resident of Castle Rock, started Santa’s Second Chance in 1997. A year earlier, she had heard a radio news story about a town in the southeastern United States that used traffic fines to buy gifts for needy children during the holiday season. The idea was appealing.

Terry first approached Castle Rock Municipal Court Judge Louis Gresh, who hears traffic court cases. Judge Gresh immediately embraced the idea. Terry decided to call the program Santa’s Second Chance, because it would give traffic offenders a “second chance” to feel good about themselves by allowing their fines to go to support children-in-need.

With backing of then Police Chief Tony Lane and Judge Gresh, Terry presented Santa’s Second Chance to Town Council and won unanimous approval for implementing the program during the 1997 season.