Over 1,000 children from area schools will visit Santa Claus at Laurens Electric Cooperative during December. Annually for the past ten years, employees at the co-op have volunteered to host elementary school children for a visit and picture with Santa, snacks, gifts, and education.

Laurens Electric Cooperative volunteers Bakinka Bailey (left) and Dena Moore shoot digital photos of each child with Santa to print and send home to the children’s’ families

In October, Laurens Electric sends invitations to 50 schools within its service area. Dena Moore, Human Resource Representative and co-organizer of the event, says, “These are children from all walks of life. Some of their parents have thanked us, telling us that their children would not have had an opportunity to visit with and have pictures taken with Santa otherwise.”

From December 7 through the 16, excited children from local schools travel to the cooperative to sit on Santa’s lap. This year, co-op volunteers, including Santa and Frosty, will journey to some schools to help alleviate those schools’ fuel costs. One of their scheduled stops will include Greenville Memorial Hospital, where children in the hospital are given gifts in addition to the visit and photo with Santa. 

Upon seeing Santa, Moore and another Laurens Electric volunteer snap pictures of the children with Santa on a digital camera, then print the photo for the children to take home to their parents. Each child is sent off with gift bags that include activity kits, school supplies, and candy.

After eating snacks provided by more co-op volunteers, the children are shown an electrical safety demonstration, given by Scott Bryant, LEC’s Safety and Training Coordinator. Some of the children’s parents accompany them on the field trip, bringing along a younger brother or sister.

“Many of the children have parents, aunts, and uncles who work for the co-op and many are neighbors of Laurens Electric employees or friends from church,” says Lillie Calwise, also a Human Resource Representative who co-organizes the event. “It makes you feel good when you see one of our linemen get down on a child’s level to comfort a crying or scared child. Within minutes, the lineman will have the child laughing and relaxed, and makes sure that all the children are enjoying themselves.”

 There is a waiting list of co-op employees who would like to volunteer for the parts of Santa, Frosty and Mrs. Claus. The titles currently belong to David Dyal, Mason Addy and Jane McCarter. Moore says the volunteers “have worked really hard this year. Since we are traveling to some schools, we continually rush. Santa, Frosty, Mrs. Claus and the elves have even had to eat lunch while driving from one school to the next.”