Wythe County Department of Parks and Recreation created a “Santa Letter” program for Christmas 2011. In the program, schools and parents submitted a child’s information and Santa, with the department’s help sent personalized letters to every child.

Each year Santa Claus comes in the middle of the night to give the children of Wythe County, and others around the world, presents for Christmas morning. This year, Santa enlisted a little help from Wythe County’s Parks and Recreation Department to reach out to the children of the County.

Staff in the Parks and Recreation Department was delighted to help Santa deliver his letters to many children throughout Wythe County. The department delivered 541 letters with the help of local schools, daycares, preschools and parents.

With this assistance, Santa was able to send letters to children with information including their names, ages, nicknames and more. The children received their personalized letters thanks to the several of Santa’s helpers in the Wythe County Administration Building.

His lead helper overseeing the letters and their delivery was Tina Brown, Assistant Recreation Specialist, who was very pleased with the result “Considering that this was the first year that our Department provided this service for the community, I feel like it was a great success,” said Brown.

She added, “The Department has gotten a lot of positive feedback from all the county schools, preschools and daycares who participated this year and all have expressed interest in participating next year.”

In keeping with the department’s commitment to engaging the children of Wythe County, these letters are another way the Wythe County Department of Parks and Recreation hopes to reach out to County youth. While it is a departmental goal, Brown said the results had personal rewards.

 “Knowing a child’s face lit up by receiving a letter from Santa has been an enjoyable experience for me this year,” said Brown.