The Gabber: December 23, 2021

It Takes a Village

Operation Santa Represents 30 Years of Gulfport Giving Francine Whitten has long retired from her post on the Gulfport Police Department dispatch, but she continues to herd the flow of toys and gifts that Operation Santa provides to Gulfport families each holiday season.

For more than three decades the GPD has put out a call for donations, and the community has answered.

“We’ve gotten more toys than ever this year,” Whitten told The Gabber. “We couldn’t do it without everyone here and everyone out there.”

Individuals with boxed toys and organizations with truck loads of gifts – such as the Blueberry Patch the Gulfport Fire Department – have shown up to fill black garbage bags of goods that to 70 families and more than 200 kids.

In the past, officers and volunteers wrapped the goods in holiday paper and bows but that stopped after it was clear that parents wanted to choose what they were delivering to their children.

Good Karma Gulfport’s local party spot and artist retreat, The Blueberry Patch, sets aside funds every year for Op-

ABBY BAKER

By Abby Baker

Beachway Park Vice President David Lellig brings a trunkload of donations to the police station. “Every year it gets a little bigger.”

eration Santa deliveries specifically, says Patch board member Bob Feckner.

And when the Blueberry Patch Santa delivers, he brings harmonicas and paint.

“We set aside $500 this year to buy art supplies, musical instruments, books,” Feckner said. “You never know what’s going to spark creativity in someone, especially a kid.”

A trumpet man himself, Feckner hopes that the kazoos and recorders from the Blueberry Patch will provide an outlet for kids in need.

“Sing off key, it doesn’t matter,” he tells The Gabber. “You don’t have to be great at an art form to enjoy doing it. If a kid grows up to be a musician, sure, but it’s the idea of creating that’s important.”

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theGabber.com | December 23, 2021 - December 29, 2021