“What do you want from Santa this year?” That innocent question, many years ago, to a group of my daughter’s first grade classmates prompted an answer that caused my heart to drop: “My mom says Santa can’t come to our house this year because God put a tumor in my daddy’s brain.”

As a volunteer room mother, I would spend a few mornings a week in my children’s classrooms and would often stay for lunch and conversation. The talk that December morning turned to Christmas, and what each child was hoping to see under the tree. Their excited little voices competed for my attention as they described video games and bicycles, Barbies and books. But one little boy was noticeably silent. His big eyes closely watched the faces of his friends as they chattered about the presents they would open. Then he revealed the medical crisis that his family was facing. I later talked to his teacher, who until that day did not know about the father’s cancer. Then I made a phone call – to Santa.

Santa Drives a Fire Truck
Santa doesn’t always wear a red suit in Central Ohio, and he doesn’t always arrive by sleigh. Santa drives a fire truck, and can slide down a fireman’s pole quicker than he can come down through the chimney. Each year, area firefighters spend a month gathering toys and gift cards for families who need a little help for the holidays, and NBC4 is a proud partner in this massive effort.

“The Firefighters for Kids Toy Drive,” presented by NBC4 and run by the Columbus Division of Fire, didn’t start out with television coverage and hundreds of volunteers. It began in 1977 with one firefighter who was listening to a country music radio station and heard about a “Mrs. Santa” who was looking for toy donations to help a few needy families.

Mike Mullins was still at the training academy when he enlisted the help of a few other future firefighters to collect toys for Mrs. Santa. The next year, Mullins says there was no Mrs. Santa campaign.

“So, I decided to do a toy drive and store and sort the toys in my garage,” he says. Mullins and his co-workers at Fire Station 2 downtown collected toys for neighborhood children. Through the years, more firefighters joined in the effort and more families asked for and received help. The firefighters now use the department’s logistics center on Williams Road.

“The space is perfect; it’s got dock doors and plenty of room,” Mullins says. And it is space well used.

NBC4 teamed up with the Columbus Division of Fire in 1983, inviting our viewers to drop off toys to any area fire station, or to join us for our one day drive-through at the NBC4 Studios, 3165 Olentangy River Rd. In my 25 years with the station I have never missed toy-drive day. It’s the best kind of charitable effort because not one person is paid to take part. The firefighters and NBC 4 staffers donate their time, Central Ohioans give freely from their hearts, and the toys go directly to local children who are in need. My own children, who are now 21and 23 years old, have stood with me on those bitter cold December mornings learning the true meaning of Christmas giving.

But our efforts can’t compare to the hundreds of volunteer hours put in by the firefighters. Even though they are now retired, Mike Mullins and his lifelong firefighter friend Bill Russell will once again lead this effort. And, as they do every year, they will spend Christmas morning at the warehouse because, Mullins says, “we always have 10 or 15 families who need last minute, emergency help. Sometimes it’s because they were burned out of their homes and we know all about that.”

Last year, firefighters gave toys to more than 15,000 children. There will be more families in need this year. Ohio’s unemployment rate tops 10 percent and more workers are dealing with pay-cuts and furloughs. Your giving spirit can help families who have never before had to ask for assistance. These families are learning that most of us are just one pink-slip, one pay-cut or one tumor away from a crisis.

When my little girl returned to school after Christmas break during her first grade year, she came home from school with a very special story. That little boy whose father was so sick said he and his sister got to open presents on Christmas morning after all, and they each got a new bicycle. He told my daughter, “My mommy says your mommy knows Santa Claus.”

You know what? I do.

Colleen Marshall is the news anchor of NBC4 at 5, 6 and 11 p.m.

Donate to the Firefighters 4 Kids Toy Drive from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 12. Log on to www.nbc4i.com, keywords “toy drive,” for details.