By ANDREA GALABINSKI, “mailto:nfmneighbor@breezenewspapers.com”>nfmneighbor@breezenewspapers.com

Santa and his elves left the sleigh at the North Pole this year on Dec. 10 and 11, and arrived by school bus to visit children at several local schools with toys and treats.

Bus drivers and staff of Lee County Schools Transportation West division went out and secured donations to distribute nearly 900 Christmas gift bags to students in five area schools. In North Fort Myers, they spread cheer at J. Colin English Elementary and in Cape Coral, to students at Diplomat, Caloosa, Gulf and Cape Elementary Schools.

At J. Colin English, from the very first child that got a glimpse of Santa in the hallway to all the children in the classes, there were unforgettable smiles and excitement.

“I’ve never seen so many kids’ faces light up like they did today,” said Transportation West’s (and elf) Faye Jennings. “They are so happy.“

Charles Dailey, director of Transportation West, said his bus drivers and staff work hard to get donations and distribute them to a charitable endeavour every year around the holidays. Last year, holiday cheer from the staff went to soldiers in Iraq.

“This year with the economy the way it is, we decided rather than to look abroad, we wanted to look in our own backyard,” Dailey said.

He said many local children have been affected by the economy, and may have less this Christmas. In fact, teachers said they knew many children who may not get more than the smallest gifts this year.

“In a recession, children don’t understand when parents don’t have the extra money to get gifts,” Dailey said. “Children are extremely impacted by a recession. Little things like these gift bags really count the most. It doesn’t matter what’s inside, it’s a gift. We wanted kids to know Santa Claus is thinking of them, and is personally coming to see them.“

Dailey said his bus drivers and staff are an extraordinary group of people. “Average bus drivers don’t make a high salary, and this year they’ve dug deep,” Dailey said.

He said many got extra candy when they shopped for themselves, besides getting donations.

“What does that say about these people?” he said. “They’re individuals with big hearts that transport our kids to and from school safely every single day.“

J. Colin English Principal Joe Williams Jr. followed the caravan of Santa and his elves throughout his school’s pre-k and kindergarten classes, enjoying the joy.

“This is great,” he said. “They are providing an opportunity to students who may not have much of a Christmas this year.

Dailey said he wished his Santa crew could hit all the schools in his area, but choose the five target schools randomly to distribute the nearly 1,000 gift bags.

At J. Colin English, teacher Carmen Nieves’ pre-k class was one stop, with Haleigh Littlejohn and Donald Burice being two of the excited students to see Santa. At Doris Sebul’s pre-k class, Kaleb Kelley and Dylan Cornelison were fascinated by St. Nick.

Celeste Rabedeau’s kindergarten class was filled with smiles when Santa arrived. They included Juan Ayala, Nick Brown, Xavier Boyce, Heather Phillips, Briana Perez, Ciera Parent, Kayla Wolfe, Samantha Collins, Kayanna Jackson and Tessa Daniels.

The big Santa Bus rolled on, with elves Maxine Neal, Nicole Tyre, Judy Tuller, Kathleen Robinson, Lashun Washington, Faye Jennings, Cecilia Gaviria, Reina Concerning the two-day effort to spread cheer to children in the community and the pleasure the staff received by the children’s reactions that day Dailey said, “The more you give, the more you receive.”