Folks,

If any of you are interested in helping out with this project, please contact Ed Meagher, aka Husky Elf, directly at emeagher@cox.net. Ed is a recently retired civil servant who worked at VA for many years.

Calling All Elves,

It is indeed that time of year again and we are once again recruiting for elves to participate in Operation Covert Santa III.
 
Operation Covert Santa is a very simple idea. Christmas is a very difficult time for recently injured soldiers and their families.
They are dealing with so many stressful issues in an unfamiliar setting away from home. Providing gifts for their loved ones is often too difficult or impossible under the circumstances. We approach these recently injured soldiers and their families and ask them to give us their “Santa List” and to leave the rest to us.
Many of them are reluctant at first. It might sound to them as if we are offering charity and they are too proud to even consider that prospect. Our response is to ask them, “Don’t you believe in Santa Claus?” This isn’t charity. This is simply Santa Claus doing his job.
 
We then take these lists, remove the individual names and identify each list by a description of the soldier or family member.
 
This is where you come in. Each elf can choose to provide the gifts from a Santa List for a whole family, an individual family member, an individual gift, or make a cash contribution towards a gift. You wrap the gifts and deliver them to us. We deliver them to the soldiers and their families from Santa Claus in the true spirit of Christmas giving.
 
As one of the elves pointed out this is the purest form of giving. A gift given and received anonymously.
 
Last year over 200 elves provided a wonderful Christmas for 81 severely injured soldiers and their families. This year we are attempting to expand our reach by including the sailors and marines from Bethesda Naval Medical Center (BNMC) as well as the soldiers and airman from Walter Reed Army Hospital (WRAH) and we think there could be 150 service members and their families who need to leave it to Santa to take care of their Christmas lists so we will need that many more elves to step forward.  
If you would like to become an elf and help fulfill these Santa lists or have any questions please send me an email. 
 
Thanks,
Husky Elf