Bradenton Elks Lodge hosts children's Christmas party
BRADENTON -- Bradenton Elks Lodge member Betsy Plante watched more than 100 children receive gifts, meet Mickey and Minnie Mouse and visit with Santa on Sunday afternoon at the Bradenton Elks Lodge.
What she saw brought tears to her eyes.
Plante, on behalf of the Elks Lodge, put the event together to benefit Turning Points families. Turning Points helps homeless families in Manatee County with finding housing and addressing medical needs in addition to other types of assistance.
Last year, 1,400 families met with Turning Points case managers and the organization has helped more than 9,000 people in 2015. About 2,000 of them were children.
Plante said she personally knows many of the Turning Points families who were at the party and was happy to see children of families dealing with hardships having a good time. Plante knows about Turning Points through her own nonprofit organization, The Blessing Bags of Bradenton. Blessing Bags provides essential items such as toiletries, snacks and socks to homeless families in Bradenton.
The Blessing Bags donates to Turning Points, and Plante reached out to the Turning Points director of development Margi Dawson to organize the party.
"It's an amazing gift Betsy and the Elks Club is giving to Turning Points families," Dawson said. "It's an amazing gift for the community."
Plante and other volunteers traveled to Orlando to buy gifts for children from Disney World. Plante wanted each child's Christmas to be "magical."
"Most of these kids would probably never be able to afford to go to Disney World," Plante said, explaining her inspiration for hiring Mickey and Minnie Mouse characters for the party.
Children and families made a wish list before the event, Plante said, and many asked for needed items like pajamas, T-shirts and fleece blankets.
Jackie Santiago attended the event for the first time. Her two sons, Javier, 11, and Jreese, 5, tore open gifts after talking with Santa. The family, originally from Nebraska, moved to Bradenton about a year and a half ago.
"It's been a struggle, so this is beyond helpful to me," Santiago said, beaming as she watched her sons open presents. It was her first year at the annual event, and she heard about it through the Society of St. Vincent de Paul group in Manatee County. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is a charitable Catholic organization.
Past president of Florida State Elks Dan Tabor said the event is an example of the kind of services the Elks enjoy providing to the community.
"Anything we can do to help the kids; that's what we're here for, the kids and the vets," Tabor said.
Nicole Abbott, a friend of Tabor's, brings her children Stella, 2, Mason, 4, and Wyatt, 8, to the party every year. Abbott said it eases the Christmas stress for her.
"It helps us out with Christmas and they enjoy coming here," Abbott said.
Janelle O'Dea, business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7095 or follow her on Twitter@jayohday.
This story was originally published December 20, 2015 at 5:36 PM with the headline "Bradenton Elks Lodge hosts children's Christmas party ."