<SPAN class=headline1>Santa's helpers drive Hummers</SPAN>
<SPAN class=subhead>Volunteers use big SUVs to deliver toys to foster
children</SPAN>
<SPAN class=smalltext>By Jennifer Miller, Rocky Mountain
News</SPAN>
<SPAN class=smalltext>December 20, 2004</SPAN>
<SPAN class=bodytext>Santa's got a brand new sleigh.
It has all-terrain tires and leather seats, and it costs at least $52,000.
On Sunday, 17 Hummer owners and their
families decked the vehicles with wreaths, colorful lights and balloons, and
rode to deliver presents to more than 300 foster children in Colorado.
The event involved the Colorado Department of Human Services, Sam's Club,
Medved Hummer and the Colorado State Foster Parents Association.
Volunteers wearing Santa hats with "H2" stitched on them smiled as they drove
through Medved's Wheat Ridge service center to load trunks with toys. One
passenger rang bells out the window.
The sport utility vehicles lined up before setting off to homes as far away
as Strasburg to the east and Colorado Springs to the south.
Richard Johnson of Parker wore a Santa suit. He was first in line.
"This is not about the Hummer drive itself," he said. "This is about giving
back to the community."
Sunday Mann, of Evergreen, a Hummer owner who created the event, said she was
happy that children were helping out.
"It's a good message to kids that not everybody is in the same set of
circumstances," she said.
Mann had about a month to organize everything.
Nine Sam's Club locations accepted toys. Donations included a bike, roller
skates and fulfilled wishes for items such as lip gloss and a college
dictionary.
When Mann arrived at a foster home with her husband she was surprised that
seven children came out to greet them.
One boy was wowed by a GI Joe doll, while another asked to look inside the
Hummer. They sat on the massive black front grill for a picture.
Liz McDonough, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Human Services,
said that next year's goal is to provide gifts for at least 2,000 children.
"If we could do this on a state level, it would be great," she said. "We need
partnership."
In northwest Denver, a partnership between the Denver Police Protective
Association, the Marines "Toys for Tots" campaign, Denver County Human Services
and state officials provided toys for children from Cheltenham Elementary
School.
Parents from the school had filled out forms with students' ages, including
siblings under 18.
Gifts for 952 children were distributed at an event center near Invesco Field
at Mile High on Sunday.
"The Cheltenham community is very much in need," said Elvia Lubin, family
resource coordinator at the school. "There are a lot of homeless families,
single-parent families, and more than half are immigrant families.
"Even when they filled out forms (for gifts), a lot of them wrote thank- you
notes on them," Lubin said.</SPAN></P>
|