Country Santa Provides Christmas For Needy Children

Like the work of Santa and his elves, the work of Country Santa and his helpers is never over.

Bob Spalding has been assisting Country Santa Buddy Cox with his work for 28 years.

Spalding recently spoke to the Easley Rotary Club.

He began working with Country Santa in 1983, when he was working as a county extension agent.

“I took six senior 4-Hers who were working on a citizenship project … up to Country Santa, and we delivered them some toys,” Spalding said. “We got ready to leave and Country Santa said, 'Would you be interested in helping?'”

The high school students said yes, they would like to help.

“And if they had the time, I did too,” Spalding said. “I've never left. Out of those six kids, two still help on a regular basis. One of those kids is my daughter and she got her husband and kids involved so it's a family affair.”

The primary goal of Country Santa is to “give toys to needy children,” he said.

“Children who won't have a Christmas,” Spalding said. “We keep that in mind as we collect toys and work through the season.”

Buddy Cox got his start as Country Santa in 1978 when his daughter was attending Ambler Elementary School.

A teacher told Cox about a girl in kindergarten who did not have shoes.

“So Buddy bought her some shoes,” Spalding said. “When he took her the shoes, he found out she had a tattered doll and wasn't expecting anything for Christmas.”

Buddy decided to help – and it grew from there.

“The next year, it grew to about 10 families,” Spalding said.

In the early years, the toys collected for children were stored on a coffee table in Cox's home – but the operation has far outgrown that table, then a front porch, then a barn.

A question Spalding is often asked is “Where does Country Santa get the names of needy children?”

The answer is from a variety of sources, including from school counselors, referrals and call-ins.

“Buddy's secretary spends basically October through December double-checking to see if these kids really need help,” Spalding said.

Though Country Santa collects toys all year, the busiest times for the group are the fall and winter month, Spalding said.

“We start the Monday before Thanksgiving – we go in and clean the Country Santa building up,” Spalding said. “Then we start picking up toys. We pick up toys from all over Greenville, Easley, Pickens. Last year I think we had 33 (toy collection) barrels out across the Upstate. We have one guy who does nothing but go around and pick toys. That's all he does.”

Many groups, including schools, will collect and donate toys to Country Santa.

“That's a big help to us,” Spalding said.

They ask that people donate new toys to the organization.

“90 percent of the used toys we get we cannot use,” Spalding said. “They're either dirty, broken or they just do not meet our standards. So we do not accept used toys any more.”

Donated toys are sorted into groups by age, he said. Then profile sheets are filled out for the families with information such as age and gender of the children.

Helpers are told to give each child about $50 worth of toys from the Country Santa shelves.

“Every child will receive a ball,” Spalding said. “Every child will receive a game of some sort.”

“Our biggest needs are baby toys and items for teens,” Spalding said. “We've got anything in the middle ages, 4th, 5th, 6th grades, we've got plenty of that. It's stuff for the teens that we don't have much of.

After the bags are filled with toys, a checker inspects them and assigns a number to that particularly family, which will be used to ID the bag on delivery day.

On Christmas Eve, drivers begin lining up on Buddy's driveway at about 5am, Spalding said.

“Everything is double-checked before we send them out,” Spalding said. “We put them in the car and boom, we send them out.”

Buddy does not allow any photos or video to be taken of the families receiving their gifts, he said.

“He does not want to embarrass the kids or the families that are receiving the toys,” Spalding said.

After the deliveries are done, the helpers clean the workshop and shut it down for the year, but the work isn't over.

“We collect toys year round,” Spalding said. “We collect money year-round.”

The support of the community, either through donations of toys or money or through volunteerism is crucial for the success of each year's efforts.

“Buddy shuts his business down the whole month of December just to run the Country Santa program,” he said. “Buddy's spending money year round personally on the Country Santa program.

“We spend about $40,000 a year on toys,” Spalding said. “Either donations or we go out and physically buy toys.”

Last year, Country Santa and his helpers delivered to over 3,400 kids, around 1,500 families, Spalding said.

Monetary donations can be made by visiting www.countrysanta.org or take your donation to the shop yourself, Spalding said.

“Bring it up to the Country Santa shop in December,” he said. “Then you can see where your money is going. Every penny goes directly into the Country Santa program to pay for toys.