Santa’s Helpers was started by Rita Swiener (now Executive Director) when she provided a family in need with holiday gifts. She was determined to make sure no child was without toys or necessities during the holiday season. What started with one family has turned into Santa’s Helpers delivering gifts to more than 31,000 families.
Each child gets 6 gifts including 3 books and an age appropriate educational toy. Toys are brand new and donated through yearly toy drives or purchased thanks to monetary donations from supporters.
Santa’s Helpers serves families in St. Louis City, St. Louis County and the St. Louis Metropolitan area.
Volunteers purchase, wrap and deliver new toys on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. They also do “Christmas in July” & bring toys & necessities to women & children living in homeless shelters & a women’s safe house.
Santa’s Helpers serves more than 3,500 children & over 1000 families every holiday season.
Families are referred by Social Service, Schools, Parents as Teachers, Nurses for Newborns or Big Brothers-Big Sisters.
Mayor Lyda Krewson proclaimed Oct 20th, 2019 as Santa’s Helpers Inc Day in the City of St. Louis!
Warehouse Address: 1401 Pierce Ave, St. Louis, MO 63110
Mailing Address: 5835 Manchester Rd, St. Louis, MO 63110
How Santa’s Helpers began:
It all started in the 1960s when Rita Swiener was the President of UMSL’s Student Evening Council. An adjunct professor asked if they could help give gifts to an under-resourced family that had “fallen through the cracks”. Rita agreed. That next year the council decided not to participate so Rita started helping them on her own.
Rita is from Pittsburgh and she is Jewish. She can still remember Hanukkahs with no gifts. She knew she didn’t want any kids to ever have to go through that so she decided she would do whatever she needed to help others during the holidays.
Rita heard of other families that needed help thanks to her friend Paul Civili who was teaching at Holy Trinity Catholic School in north St. Louis at the time. Paul still volunteers today!
The group started in Rita’s living room and finally ended up in a warehouse space donated to them by Cee Kay Supply on Manchester Ave. in St. Louis.
No one at Santa’s Helpers is paid, not even Rita. Volunteers collect new toys through toy drives and the rest of bought through sales and some hard core negotiation skills thanks to Rita and other volunteers.
Rita is a fearless dedicated leader at Santa’s Helpers. She is a breast cancer survivor, heart attack survivor and one of the hardest working volunteers at the warehouse.