Secret Santa is back for another year helping needy families in Hay River and on the Hay River Reserve.
And Michelle Schaub is also back for her second year as the organizer of the effort to collect and distribute Christmas gifts.
Schaub said there is also something new about Secret Santa this year – it is now a part of the Rotary Club of Hay River Sunrise.
"One of the main challenges that I found with people that were wanting to make donations is that we weren't a non-profit organization," she said of running Secret Santa last year. "So when I had first started looking to make Secret Santa a non-profit, someone had mentioned to me that perhaps I could approach one of the other clubs here in town that are already non-profit. And that's what I did. I contacted Rotary because I thought they'd be a good fit because they do help a lot of groups around town, and they graciously accepted."
Schaub has also joined the Rotary, explaining that, when she found out more about the club, it was doing projects that she believes in.
She also noted that, as part of Rotary, Secret Santa has a new base of volunteers.
Donations for Secret Santa will be accepted until Dec. 9.
That includes at the Breakfast with Santa from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 9 at the Royal Canadian Legion. Everyone who brings a donation for Secret Santa will have their names entered into a draw for a chance to win two airplane tickets to Edmonton courtesy of Northwestern Air Lease Ltd. (NWAL).
Breakfast with Santa is sponsored by the Town of Hay River, Local 6 of the Union of Northern Workers and NWAL.
Also on Dec. 9 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the annual Toy Drive by Emergency Services and the RCMP will also collect donations for Secret Santa.
Schaub noted that people can also drop off donations in boxes at businesses around town.
And if those options are not enough, she said she will go pick up a donation, noting her phone number is on all the collection boxes.
"Last year, I did the same thing and I only had a few people call me," she said of collecting donations. "Most people they put them in the boxes that were in the businesses around town."
She is requesting that all the donations should be unwrapped, which makes it easier to determine which age groups should receive them.
Schaub said getting all the donations by Dec. 9 allows time to prepare for deliveries to families on Dec. 18 and Dec. 19.
That will be done by Secret Santa, Emergency Services and the RCMP.
"There are a lot of families here in Hay River and on the Hay River Reserve that just need a little extra help during this season to make it a good family Christmas," said Schaub.
This year, Secret Santa has a list of 178 families to help. The families are suggested by Social Services, the women's shelter, the schools and other organizations.
Every member of a family gets a present, along with a turkey dinner complete with stuffing, potatoes and carrots.
Two years ago, Secret Santa was run by the Royal Canadian Legion and before that for over 20 years by Edna Dow, who founded the initiative in Hay River in the 1990s.