Underprivileged Children Live Out ‘Santa Fantasy'

Spokane-area homeless kids treated to day of fun, gifts

12/18/2008 12:18 p.m.

Sixty Spokane-area children whose lives are filled with uncertainty, want and chaos were treated to a day of Christmas magic during the annual "Santa Fantasy Flight" on Dec. 13.

Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air became corporate sponsors this year, providing the Spirit of Disneyland aircraft for the flight to the "North Pole." In addition, about 35 Horizon and Alaska employees participated as elves, crew or other volunteers during the event. Another company donated the fuel.

Employee volunteers said the sparkle and wonder in the children from transitional homes and shelters in Spokane and Northern Idaho touched them deeply and they hoped to participate again.

"It's beyond words, really," said Dave Burris, Horizon's customer service manager in Spokane. "I think those who volunteered received blessings almost more than the children did. I heard people say it made their Christmas."

From the moment the children arrived at Spokane International Airport, they were showered with love and gifts during the daylong event. An "elf" took each child under their wing as soon as they arrived and gave them undivided attention throughout their visit.

Each child received a T-shirt that said "I Believe" on the front and "I've been to the North Pole" on the back. Then they were photographed with their elf escort and received a "passport" with the picture in it. After the children passed through security, elves stamped each passport with a North Pole designation.

Excitement mounted as the aircraft covered with Disney characters pulled up to the gate and the elves screamed, "We're going home, we're going home!" Most of the children had never been on an airplane before, much less one headed to see Santa Claus. In the middle of the 40-minute flight, the children were instructed to close their window shades and recite a chant to help guide the plane into North Pole airspace.

"Santa has cleared us for landing," Captain Casey Burns announced as the jet landed near a hangar at the far end of Spokane airport.

The children were greeted by a North Pole Fire Department truck and a red carpet lined with elves. They were ushered into a hangar that had been transformed into a glittering fantasy land of Christmas fun with decorations, games, jugglers, magicians, face painters, a Polar Express train set, and fancy sugar cookies and other sweets.

Santa and Mrs. Claus soon arrived and greeted the children before Santa disappeared into a chamber, where each child sat on his lap and received gifts they had previously requested in a letter.

All the children gathered around with new blankets and pillows for a reading by Mrs. Claus of "The Polar Express," a story about a magical train that takes a group of children on a journey to the North Pole to meet Santa and his elves and a bell that can be heard only by those who believe. During the story, Santa fell asleep, and Mrs. Claus urged the children to wake him by yelling "I believe" in unison.

After entering into a "transporter" that delivered the children back to Spokane, they were picked up by limousines that carried them back to the Spokane YWCA and their other temporary homes.

Demian Jackson, a Horizon supervisor in Spokane who volunteered as a North Pole guard, said he thought some of the children had become believers in the magic of Christmas that day.

"It's pretty amazing to see," Jackson said. "Some of them seemed pretty leery when they first arrived, but now they are laughing and having fun. It's the whole point—to make them believe there's something better."

In its 11th year, the "Santa Fantasy Flight" is supported by more than 200 community sponsors and hundreds of volunteers. The YWCA, state Department of Social and Health Services, Transitional Living Center, and St. Vincent dePaul in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, help identify the children who participate.