This past weekend more than 150 children new to the United States — including kids who recently arrived here from Syria as well as little ones from Afghanistan and Iraq — met Santa Claus for the first time, and Advocate photojournalist Rasy Ran was there to capture their (and their parents’) excitement. Most were unfamiliar with the Santa Claus concept, but they quickly caught on — toys tend to be universally appreciated.
Santa’s visits to various apartments in the Lake Highlands and northeast Dallas area were organized by three groups: DFW International, Spanish House and the APCA Asian American Resource Group.
Santa went door-to-door delivering gifts picked by parents and children from Spanish House, a local, private Spanish immersion school. Volunteers also handed out goodie bags they prepared for refugee parents. Santa was portrayed by a volunteer member of APCA, a nonprofit that also collected more than 100 toys for the event.
Each year both the APCA and The Spanish House select a local charity that serves marginalized youth and children to support, a representative says. This year both decided to reach out to the refugee families identified by DFW International’s Refugee Support Network.
The Syrian refugee situation in Texas attracted national attention after Texas’ governor announced he wanted to block Syrian refugee resettlement in our state, after which legal and philosophical battles ensued (hence the number of news cameras at Saturday’s Santa visit).
