(above, l-r) The co-chairs for the 53rd annual Santa Claus Shop, Megan Rende, Kim McGovern, Christine Semcer and Michelle Frei.
Summit’s Santa Claus Shop in it’s 53rd Year
Submitted by Lauren Bialek
The Santa Claus Shop will open its doors once again to area families, providing its 53rd consecutive year of complimentary holiday shopping. The shop serves more than 400 low-income families and senior citizens from Summit and other local communities, including New Providence and Berkeley Heights, who are referred by local social services agents.
This year’s Santa Claus Shop will be held at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 587 Springfield Avenue in Summit. Families will be offered shopping hours by invitation only on Wednesday, December 4. In addition, the Santa Claus Shop will be hosting a holiday gathering for senior citizens on Tuesday, December 3rd, 2019.
The Santa Claus Shop guests personally select a household item, new clothing for each member of their immediate family, a hat and mittens, a book, and a new toy for each child. Local volunteers are responsible for the shop setup, personal shopping services for each guest, gift-wrapping, and clean up.
The Santa Claus Shop is chaired by Summit residents, Michelle Frei, Kim McGovern, Megan Rende and Christine Semcer and co-chaired by Lauren Bialek, Susan Campbell, Maritess Manaluz and Marnie O’Connell. The Santa Claus Shop exists solely on donations and volunteers. With the monetary donations from area residents, local organizations and businesses, the Santa Claus Shop can purchase the gifts that allow less fortunate neighbors to experience the joy of holiday giving without financial burden.
To keep the holiday spirit alive for local residents in need, the Santa Claus Shop chairwomen ask for members of the community to consider giving. Checks can be made payable to SHIP, with Santa Claus Shop noted on the check’s memo line, and mailed to the Santa Claus Shop, P.O. Box 119, Summit, NJ 07901. The ability to make an online donation is also available at summitsantaclausshop.com. If you would like to find out more information or get involved please visit our website or follow us on Facebook at Santa Claus Shop – Summit, NJ.
