MORGANTOWN —Santa came to the Seneca Center Wednesday to read stories to kids and have pictures taken with them and their families.
Compass Realty, in cooperation with The Tea Shoppe and Seneca Center management put on the free event, said Compass Broker Allan Collins.
The story time also helped Compass — which opened in summer of 2017 — accomplish its mission of raising money for WVU Children’s he said. A donation container allowed families and any other passers-by in the center to give an amount of their choice, if they wished.
Collins didn’t want to cite the exact amount raised but said in the past eight months, through such things as two previous Days of Hope, they’ve collected more than $1,600 for the hospital.
Santa is a local businessman, Collins said, who prefers not to have his identity revealed but has been performing as Santa since 1986, doing fundraising for WVU Children’s and other charities. Compass connected with him to put on Wednesday’s story time.
“He’s been a good contributor to the charities within the community and we’re indebted to him,” Colins said Thursday. “It was a fun activity for the kids that were able to participate last night.”
All told, about 20 people — kids and families — turned out on Wednesday, Collins said. “For the first go-round, it was something that we found to be very positive and very well received. It was something that we were touched by. … It’s something that we look forward to doing again.”
And they will continue to raise funds for Children’s and other charities. “We’re looking to get more and more involved in doing community-type activities.”
