Washington Elementary School first-grader Ubiri Torres gasped, and then covered her mouth in shock when she glimpsed Santa Claus coming through the door.
That he should give her a Christmas stocking containing a Barbie doll to boot was almost too much to believe.
Ubiri’s friend, Yaylynn Villacana, found something similar in her stocking from Santa.
“It’s Belle,” she said of her doll, a character from the animated Disney movie, “Beauty and the Beast.” “It’s an awesome present.”
Each of Elgin school’s 300 students were given presents in a surprise holiday party Tuesday that included cookies and other treats, games and music, all courtesy of the Meijer store in Elgin and the Boys & Girls Club of Elgin.
Meijer gave its Elgin store $10,000 to donate to whatever organization its employees chose, store manager Cory Cole said. They selected the local Boys & Girls Club.
It’s something his company likes to do to “enrich the lives of the communities we serve,” Cole said.
The club has about 40 members who attend Washington Elementary, said the Elgin’s organization’s chief development officer. “We’re very fortunate we have a good relationship with Meijer,” she said.
Local Meijer employee James Ross is on the board of the Boys and Girls Club of Elgin and attended the school party to help with the holiday celebration.
“It brings a little warmth to your heart to see the smiles from the kids,” he said.
And there were lots of smiles, noting the grins on the faces of 4th-graders Ava Thomas, who received a Disney Princess doll, and Romeo Mejia, who found a race car in his stocking.
Everyone got to have their photo with Santa.
“You feel the energy as soon as they walk through the doors,” Ross said. “It makes the long hours and hard work worth it.”
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
