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Every year, The Salvation Army partners with Mattel and the Alaska National Guard to bring Christmas to children at the far reaches of the Alaskan frontier. It’s a dramatic operation, involving military transport planes and Black Hawk helicopters, bringing gifts—along with Santa and Mrs. Claus!—for a day of community and celebration.
Our cameras recently hitched a ride on the trip to Tuluksak, a small community of less than 300 people near the western edge of the state. Come along for the ride!
Below is a transcript of the video, edited for readability.
Major Henry Graciani: Alaska, if you were to line up Montana, Texas and California, Alaska would still swallow those three up. That creates some challenges, unique challenges.
Jenni Ragland: We have people who live in the far reaches of Alaska days are short, storms are many.
Major Henry Graciani: Operation Santa was really about remembering kids that perhaps are forgotten in the outskirts of Alaska, remembering children that would not have a Christmas.
Jenni Ragland: It is really an opportunity to encourage communities who live in difficult circumstances. We visited, this year, the community of Tuluksak. They rely on airplanes in the winter.
The Salvation Army and the Alaska National Guard have a long history of working together. We work with our community partners: Costco, Tastee Freeze, Mattel.
Major Henry Graciani: But to have that partnership, where Mattel provides all these toys to The Salvation Army, and we could partner with the Alaska National Guard and get them to that rural community, to be a part of that, is very moving.
Jenni Ragland: I look and I see, and I watch when we’re in these communities, and there’s just a different spirit of family.
Major Henry Graciani: And what really hit me, was that a house that I saw as we drove in, thinking, there’s no windows in that house that are like covered. It’s just holes, there’s no glass. So no one lives there, I’m sure…but to see like a five-year-old little boy waving at us as we as we left, and thinking, “Oh my gosh! Someone actually lives there.” That was tough. It was good to provide a little bit of light, a little bit of joy.
Jenni Ragland: To go to places where they have never experienced something like Santa coming to visit them, it just makes my heart happy. End of the day, it’s really about the kids in the community.
Major Henry Graciani: We’re all created in the image of God, and our God is a giving God. So each of us has a need to give, and so as we let people know there’s a need out there, I have every confidence people will respond.
The more we could do that, the better we can impact our community, our cities, our states, our nation, and our world. God always provides, and the needs are always met. Takes a little time, takes a lot of work…but we’ll get there.
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