Seaford Santa again a success

Thanks to the Seaford Kiwanis Club, dozens of children were able to have a happy holiday. Members of the club and the community answered letters from needy children on Long Island and in Queens with Hanukkah and Christmas gifts.

Steven Katz, a financial advisor for Edward Jones on Merrick Road, began the Seaford Santa program last year as an initiative with his business. With the rebirth of the Kiwanis Club this year, Katz, its president, decided to bring the idea to the group.

“I think it’s very fitting that it be a Kiwanis project,” he said, noting that the ultimate goal of Kiwanis International is to help children.

Katz said that every letter that was sent to the Kiwanis post office box in Seaford was answered with a gift. “We do what we can,” he said. “No child should not have a happy Christmas.”

Last year, Katz partnered with the Rev. Dr. Edwin Jones, pastor of the Seaford United Methodist Church. Jones has since moved on to a church in Jamaica, Queens, but still provided letters from needy children this year. Katz said that although the project is called Seaford Santa, it is not limited to local children.

The requests for gifts in the letters, he said, were wide-ranging, from clothing to a video game system or a new iPhone. “There’s always some requests for the latest technology,” Katz said. Toys relating to the popular Disney movie “Frozen” were a popular request from girls.

Ann Torcivia, secretary of the Kiwanis Club and founder of the Joey Foundation, which co-sponsored Seaford Santa, said that even if they couldn’t fulfill a child’s wish for costly electronics, the goal was to get them at least one item on their wish list.

Community members were invited to Katz’s office to sift through the letters and choose one to answer. Many people, he said, made their decision based on which one most touched their heart. Many of the children wrote personal stories about their struggles.

Katz had volunteers lined up to deliver the presents to children in the days leading up to Christmas, so no child would be left out.

Torcivia said that Seaford Santa is what Kiwanis is all about. “It gives the Kiwanian the personal tug at their heart that they’re doing the right thing,” she said. “That one little gesture gives you the feeling that you were able to make a difference in the life of a child. That’s the Kiwanis way of doing it.”

Last year, Torcivia said, Seaford Santa helped a local family in need, and volunteers filled the family’s car with gifts and food just before the holidays.

Katz received many letters of thanks from the families who were helped out last year, he said, but the accolades are not why he does it. Giving back is its own reward, and he hopes to continue to expand the program to help even more children in the future.

“It gives them faith and hope,” he said, “especially when their letter is answered. They know that someone is listening to them.”