Alayna Jones

 

Alayna Jones and Sam Brush | alayna3@vt.edu bsam96@vt.edu

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Blacksburg, Va. Dec. 2, 2017 – Blacksburg took on a new name on Dec. 2, 2017: the North Pole. Starting at 10 am at the YMCA, on an admittedly toasty day for early December, a steady stream of eager parents and children were seen bustling about with an electricity that can only be rationalized by the realization that Christmas is here.

 

Upon entry into the “Y”, one can hear the laughter of kids anxiously waiting their turn in line to meet Santa Claus, the low murmur of chatter coming from the throngs of people in the thrift store, and the small talk between parents waiting for their kids to return from the workshop in which the kids are choosing them gifts.

 

The Christmas Village is not a new event, but to keep a tradition as intense as this up and running there is a critical need for new volunteers and people willing to sacrifice their time to make it happen.

 

Lauren Malhotra is one such volunteer. A student at Virginia Tech, Malhotra heard about the event and jumped at the opportunity to have a positive impact on her community as an elf in Santa’s Workshop.

 

“I saw the event page on Facebook and it said ‘volunteer elves are going to be wrapping presents for kids’ and I was like ‘well I want to do that!’” said Malhotra. “My friend and I have had a real bummer of a semester, so I thought it would be fun to dress up and help kids for a day.”

 

In an area of Virginia where the average household makes less than the state average, roughly a $25,000 deficit in the city of Roanoke, events such as these with affordable options for Christmas and an opportunity for children to get gifts for their parents are truly in the spirit of the season of giving.

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