By Christina Santucci
Santa Claus came early to the Rockaway Peninsula, delighting unsuspecting children as he waved from aboard a float flanked by dancing elves Saturday afternoon.
Jolly St. Nick, joined by Mrs. Claus and a troop of costumed characters, gave out candy and toys to youngsters on a ride from Far Rockaway to Neponsit as part of the Make My Mother Proud’s second-annual Santa Sleigh Run.
The organization’s founder, Lakia Echols, said this year’s ride was even bigger than the previous year after she was able to secure a float with help from Earnest Flowers from state Assemblyman William Scarborough’s (D-Jamaica) office.
“The best reaction is people saying, ‘Thank you. This lifted my spirits,’” she said. “We didn’t have to have any toys. We didn’t have to have any candy. All we have to have is a smile and the music.”
At Beach 58th Street in front of the Ocean Bay Apartments, Mr. and Mrs. Claus were met with hugs and high-fives as parents eagerly snapped photos on their cellphones.
Jody and Suzanne Windland, of Holliswood, played the part of the Christmas couple for both this year and last year’s festivities after seeing a notice on Facebook last winter about the event and offering their services. This year, they were not sure if the ride would happen until less than a week beforehand.
“[Echols] called me three days ago and said, ‘You’re not going to believe this, but we have a float. Can you do it?’” Suzanne Windland said, adding that her three daughters dressed as elves for this year’s event.
Last year, Echols started the event to bring holiday cheer to her Hurricane Sandy-ravaged community.
“We had received a lot of toys and donations and I wasn’t able to find space to distribute the toys,” Echols said. “Since I was already working in blocks where people couldn’t come out, I asked my good friend Nigel [Huggins] can we borrow your 5-ton truck and turn it into a sleigh.”
Superstorm Sandy devastated much of the Rockaways Oct. 29, 2012.
“A lot of families couldn’t afford the $5 or $10 to bring their child a little toy,” Huggins said of last year’s ride.
Even a year later, many peninsula residents are still dealing with the effects of the storm, the ride’s organizers said.
“It took a long time for [residents] to get back on their feet to get back in their homes,” Echols said, explaining that leftover gifts would be dropped of to needy families.
A Far Rockaway native who works in administration at St. John’s University, Echols founded the organization after she completed a two-year deployment to Kuwait with the U.S. Army. She also works as a mentor with Liberty Partnership, and asked some youth whom she works with to help hand out more than five bags of toys and hundreds of candy packets Saturday.
“There are better things out there than Far Rockaway,” she said. “I know that at the end of the day every kid wants to make their mother proud, whether she is here or not.”
Reach managing editor Christina Santucci by e-mail at timesledgerphotos@gmail.com by phone at 718-260-4589.
