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The Twin Hills Santa is On His Sleigh!

There is a little village in Alaska called Twin Hills. You’ve probably never heard of it. This village is so remote, you can only get in or out by bush plane or a small boat via the rough Nushagak River. The 76 residents live simply, and the children don’t have much.

Dani took a teaching position in Twin Hills earlier this year, where she has 16 students ages four to 13. When she packed up her bags and left Pennsylvania, she didn’t know what to expect, but she has already fallen in love with the people of Twin Hills and the Alaskan culture.

Dani is the friend of my food contributor, Colleen. She shared with Colleen that while discussing Christmas and Santa one day in school, one of the younger kids spoke up and said:

Santa doesn’t come to Alaska.

Think about that for a second.

When Colleen heard about this, the wheels of a fantastic holiday surprise for the kids of Twin Hills were set in motion.

Twin Hills Santa Project

Over 20 bloggers from our area and beyond climbed on board the sleigh and Project #TwinHillsSanta took off.

We all donated items of our own. I picked out pajamas for two of the students and mailed them last week.

But we also reached out to some of the brands we work with, and I am so thrilled to tell you that they hopped right on board!

CVS Pharmacy is sending all kinds of personal products from toothbrushes to scrubbies and body washes, & shampoos to chapsticks, candy, small toys, cookies and much more — one for each child in Twin Hils. See these 3 huge boxes? They’re set to arrive this week.

#TwinHillsSanta

In addition, Lee Jeans is sending clothes, Tyrrells English Chips sent cases of their delicious chips, and Nuby USA is sending the younger children sippy cups, toothbrushes, toys and fun feeding plates & utensils. Pretzel Crisps sent cases of their yummy pretzels, Kind Snacks shipped some of their tasty Kind Bars, and DecoArt sent a bunch of craft supplies. I am so excited to think of the looks on those kids’ faces when they see all of this.

Plus we all we made sure that every kid will get a new pair of pajamas, hat, scarf, gloves, socks and much more!

Many thanks to these people who helped make the #TwinHillsSanta effort so amazing.

Becky Adams, Life with Kaishon
Colleen Kennedy, Souffle Bombay
Debbie Bookstaber, Mamanista
Denise Ruggieri, Mom 4 a Difference
Gina Badalaty, Mom Blog
Heather DiNuzzo, Girl Gone Mom
Heather McCurdy, Real the Kitchen and Beyond
Heather Schugar, Diapered Knights
Jennifer Oxenford, Philly Fun 4 Kids
Katie Pietrak, BusyBee Kate
Larisha Campbell, We’re Parents Blog
Lauryn Blakesley, The Vintage Mom
Lindsay Podolak, The Naughty Mommy
Lindsey Shuster, Sisters to Sons
Natalie Dixon, A Turtles Life For Me
Nicole Quier, One Punky Mama
Pam Margolis, Unconventional Librarian
Rachel Blate, Can’t Google Everything
Sarah Mazzone, Made in USA Challenge
Tomika Bryant, My Mommy’s Neighborhood
Tricia Goodman, The Good Mama
Trina O’Boyle, O’boy Organic

I can’t wait to share more specifics. I’ll be sure to post an in January, once we hear from Dani about how it all went down.

If YOU want to do something to help the kids in Twin Hills, they have a Go Fund Me Campaign set up to help the 8th graders go to Chicago to see life outside their small village. Any contribution, no matter how small, would be amazing. Thank you!

When people come together…great things happen! Merry Christmas!

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11 Responses

  1. I friggin’ LOVE this! Would have totally done it – count me in for next year, I got tears in my eyes just reading – what a fun surprise for everyone up there!!!!!!

  2. This is so incredibly beautiful. THIS is one of the many reasons I love the holidays…moments, stories like this. Thank you for doing this, for helping, for wish-granting. It is so incredibly, JL. So, so, magical.

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