Santa Claus made an early visit to a Renton family on an antique fire engine truck and was escorted by vehicles and firefighters from Station 17 on Monday.
The very special trip and parade of equipment was part of a program developed with Communities in Schools of Renton and the Renton Firefighters Local 864 Firefighters Benevolent Fund.
Communities in Schools identifies low-income families in need and the Firefighters Benevolent Fund gives $250 to each fire station for each family.
One family is assigned to each fire station and in addition to those funds, firefighters contribute money as well.
“It happened last year with a station looking for a family and then it turned into a family per station and now it’s gone to outside the city of Renton,” said Sue Paro, executive director of Communities in Schools of Renton.
“We’ve grown just in between last year and this year,” she said of the program.
As the vehicles arrived at the apartment complex where Linda Beckwith and her family lives, the spectacle drew attention from children like the Pied Piper.
Santa arrived and passed out candy canes, but his intended audience was with Beckwith’s three boys.
The boys – Gabriel White, 3; Antonio Beckwith, 7 and James Beckwith, 9 – stood in excited amazement and shock as Santa climbed from the truck.
Santa, a Renton firefighter, brought in a sack of goodies with the help of other staff from Station 17 to the Beckwith’s home.
The boys tore into one present each and saved the rest for Christmas.Linda Beckwith, their mother, called the experience great.
“I’ve been feeling great all week; it’s really nice because my kids wouldn’t have had anything,” she said. “I lost a lot of hours on my job, so this was great that they were able to do that for my kids.”
All Renton Fire Stations plus District 20 in Skyway participated in the toy giveaway program.
About two weeks ago Linda Beckwith went shopping with Capt. John Hettick and Firefighter John Hollcraft from Station 17.
“John and I pushed the cart and it was a wonderful experience,” said Hettick.
Beckwith loaded up the cart, but only wanted to get gifts for her children and mother.
Hollcraft said it was a nice feeling to help others in this way.”We want to go out of our way to give back to people that appreciate it,” he said. “And Linda certainly did, which made it really close and personal.”
Shawn Mendenhall is a captain with the Renton Fire and Emergency Services Department.He was driving the antique fire engine for Santa and acted as a helper.
“We’ve done a version of (the program) for as long as I can remember, 25 years,” he said. “But, a real organized version started last year with Brad (Santa) and I and our Benevolent association picking one family from each station through Communities in Schools.”
Last year was the first year the firefighters decided to have Santa deliver the gifts on the back of an antique fire engine.
Mendenhall said that he and Brad Gould had such a great time they pledge to dress up and participate until they retire. Gould remembers last year encountering a child with tears in their eyes.
“They didn’t have anything in the house except a table and chairs and a broken down couch and no presents or gifts or anything,” he said. “So, that makes it pretty fun,” said Gould of delivering a sack full of presents.
