Volunteer

BREAK DOWN & CLEAN UP – it’s not over when it’s over! The Elf Louise Christmas project does not end when the last Santa bag is picked up in late December!  Beginning the last week in December, many willing hands are needed to break down and clean up the workshop.  The remaining Elf Louise Christmas Project toys and supplies must be sorted out, counted, and boxed up in preparation for return to the Bracken Texas warehouse and storage.
DATA ENTRY is a detail-oriented task that is deal for anyone with basic personal computer skills and familiarity with using basic application processing software. The process involves reading names, addresses, etc., listed on the family applications and keying the family’s information into a customized database using a form that appears on the computer screen. Approximately 6,500-7,000 applications are received each season and processed by our data entry team.
Simultaneously, we will be standardizing the data and correcting bad addresses. This activity takes place at our office at 18615 FM 2252, San Antonio, TX  78266.  We will need four people on each of these days.
GIFT WRAPPING is a huge, but fun task. We need to wrap over 30,000 gifts. Each gift is handpicked for the child, wrapped, and then placed in a bag with the rest of the gifts for that family. Families are welcome anytime during the wrap schedule. Just come on down and wrap for a couple of hours.
Groups of more than 5 people, but no more than 25, must be pre-scheduled to make sure there’s enough room for everyone. All students or children must be accompanied by adults, who must remain with them while wrapping. We will reserve tables for no more than 2 hours. You must email elf.louise@outlook.com to reserve your gift-wrapping time!

PROCESSING AND LETTERS is a very important step and job! Volunteers prepare all the letters that are mailed to families, informing them when Santa will deliver their gifts. Also, Processing prepares the envelopes that contain an application, labels, and bag tags needed for the gift wrappers. These are the envelopes that ensure all children on the list receive gifts, so attention to detail is important!

SANTA DELIVERY TEAM:  We really need teams of volunteers to deliver toys. It takes a bit more commitment (and a vehicle), but it is a tremendous amount of fun! Each Santa team delivery consists of 3 adults (minimum) – a Santa Claus, driver, and Santa’s assistant. We only dress Santa; everyone else is on their own costume-wise.  If you have a large group, you can have two or three Santa teams and we will schedule you in the same geographical area or apartment complex.

Please click SANTA TEAM DELIVERY for a full description of duties, and the Orientation and Delivery Schedules.

TOY STOCKER:  This is a fun job! All of the thousands of toys received by the Elf Louise Project destined for delivery to San Antonio children must be unboxed and stacked in age-appropriate locations on shelves and pallets in preparation for gift-wrapping activities. Toy stockers get the great opportunity to view firsthand the toys that will be delighting the thousands of children served each season by the Elf Louise Christmas Project. Toy Stockers must be able to lift heavy boxes and use box cutters. Groups of 8-10 people can be accommodated at one time to perform this important task.

WAREHOUSE HELPER:  This is the group that gets Santa on the road! We need six people each day of the Santa Delivery schedule to take the bags of gifts from the route boxes, place them in a cart and then accompany the elves to the vehicle (sleigh) and help them load all the goodies and be on their way! There are some lifting and pushing carts required, so we ask that volunteers be 15 or older.

WRAP ROOM CHECKER: pack and prep the Santa bags for the Santa Deliveries. This is an important step in making sure each child in the family has something to open for Christmas. This is the final check before the bags go out to the children, so attention to detail is important.

Checkers must be at least 18 years old. This position can be physical and requires a lot of standing and some lifting, so you will want to dress appropriately and wear comfortable shoes.