Green Santa is a true community event with neighbors helping neighbors, Green Santa Chairwoman Sheryl Kelly said.

The outreach program provides two toys, two books, a stuffed animal and H-E-B gift cards to purchase a holiday meal to qualifying children and families in the area, Kelly said.

Various Lakeway businesses put out toy-collection bins for three weeks starting in mid-November, and there are also drop-off boxes at Lake Travis ISD schools.

Though it is supported primarily by Lake Travis Labor of Love, or LTlov, an area nonprofit that helps families in need, many of the toy and monetary donations also come from the Lakeway Sing Along Christmas Show, which this year will be Dec. 2 at the Lakeway Activity Center.

Kelly said she especially loves the fact that the majority of the program’s volunteers are young people.

“The people sorting and packing the gifts are teen groups, such as Girl Scouts, the National Honor Society, the Young Men’s Service League and other teens getting service hours,” she said. “They are the best ones to do it, too. They know what a 2- or 6-year-old wants.”

Families receiving the gifts are selected via applications submitted online, through LTISD and from Lake Travis Crisis Ministries.

“The schools will make an announcement letting kids know when the deadline is if they want to register,” Kelly said. “The counselors also know the children in need and often recommend them. We also work closely with Lake Travis Crisis Ministries—several of the people that volunteer there are also LTlov members.”

Kelly said it is important that every child has a great holiday season.

“So many of us here have so much,” she said. “This is a great opportunity for us to give back.”

Green Santa is one of LTlov’s most beloved programs, President Michelle Zogas said, adding that its success depends on support from a wide network of charitable groups and volunteers, which in turn builds community.

Zogas said LTlov plans to continue running Green Santa into the foreseeable future and has no plans to hand the responsibility off to another organization, as the members support and believe in the program.

“Green Santa serves our economically disadvantaged neighbors and is an excellent vehicle for spreading love in our community,” Zogas said, “and for bridging the gap between the Lake Travis community’s well-known affluent population and our more hidden population of the working poor.”