A Little Girl’s Question to Santa Brightens the Season

You don’t have to drive very far off the island to find an entirely different world from that of Marco’s glistening high rises, canal front million-dollar homes, expensive boats and boutique stores. You just have to drive up State Route 951 and take a right turn on U.S. 41 East.

Driving east you’ll find a very different world. Here you’ll find migrant workers toiling in the fields, harvesting the crops that we tend to take for granted every time we walk through the cavernous grocery stores that continuously crop up on our landscape. These men, women and children were especially hard hit during the recent COVID Pandemic due to a number of factors, such as cramped quarters, lack of sick pay and language barriers that compounded their challenges.

The harvest season in Southwest Florida typically runs from September to May, and includes crops such as watermelons, tomatoes and strawberries. The fields that produce these crops can be seen throughout Collier County, located right around the corner from where we live in comfort and security.

In 2019, the all-volunteer Christmas Island Style (CIS) Committee saw the need to reach out locally, a result of their involvement in a holiday gift exchange at Manatee Elementary School. It was during that experience that a little girl tugged on Santa’s leg and simply asked him why he didn’t stop at her home on Christmas. 

Within a week, the CIS Committee members purchased and collected unwrapped gifts at the annual Christmas Street Parade. The committee also purchased over 300 pounds of pork roasts and other food to ensure that Christmas Day would be a special one for these families. 

Last Friday evening, a small group journeyed back out to one of the farms and continued the tradition they started in 2019. They were met by the broad smiles of families and children that had come to see Santa in their own neighborhood, and to understand they were not forgotten. Wrapped presents, pork roasts and other materials were distributed as Santa and his elves stood by to hug the children and wish them a wonderful Christmas.