{"id":336309,"date":"2024-12-19T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-20T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=336309"},"modified":"2024-12-21T09:32:02","modified_gmt":"2024-12-21T09:32:02","slug":"from-sleigh-to-humvee-operation-santa-claus-2024-wraps-up-in-yakutat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=336309","title":{"rendered":"From sleigh to Humvee: Operation Santa Claus 2024 wraps up in Yakutat"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Approximately 50 Alaska National Guard service members, volunteers from the Salvation Army, AKNG Child and Youth Program and others visited the southeastern Alaskan city of Yakutat, Dec. 18, 2024. Operation Santa Claus, a longstanding annual community outreach program of the AKNG, has provided gifts such as toys, backpacks, and books to children in remote Alaskan communities since 1956. The program partners with the Salvation Army and numerous volunteers to spread holiday cheer, continuing its tradition of support. (Alaska National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Seth LaCount)
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\n Approximately 50 Alaska National Guard service members, volunteers from the Salvation Army, AKNG Child and Youth Program and others visited the southeastern Alaskan city of Yakutat, Dec. 18, 2024. Operation Santa Claus, a longstanding annual community outreach program of the AKNG, has provided gifts such as toys, backpacks, and books to children in remote Alaskan communities since 1956. The program partners with the Salvation Army and numerous volunteers to spread holiday cheer, continuing its tradition of support. (Alaska National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Seth LaCount)
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\n Mrs. Claus reads to the children of Yakutat in their school gymnasium as part of Operation Santa Claus in Yakutat, Alaska, Dec. 18, 2024. Operation Santa Claus, a longstanding annual community outreach program of the AKNG, has provided gifts such as toys, backpacks, and books to children in remote Alaskan communities since 1956. The program partners with the Salvation Army and numerous volunteers to spread holiday cheer, continuing its tradition of support.
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\n Alaska Air National Guard Master Sgt. Samantha Smith, assigned to the AKNG Joint Force Headquarters command support staff, serves ice cream to Yakutat children as part of Operation Santa Claus in Yakutat, Alaska, Dec. 18, 2024. Operation Santa Claus, a longstanding annual community outreach program of the AKNG, has provided gifts such as toys, backpacks, and books to children in remote Alaskan communities since 1956. The program partners with the Salvation Army and numerous volunteers to spread holiday cheer, continuing its tradition of support. Circle, Alaska, was selected for this year\u2019s mission due to severe flooding that recently impacted the community.
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\n Approximately 50 Alaska National Guard service members, volunteers from the Salvation Army, AKNG Child and Youth Program and others visited the southeastern Alaskan city of Yakutat, Dec. 18, 2024. Operation Santa Claus, a longstanding annual community outreach program of the AKNG, has provided gifts such as toys, backpacks, and books to children in remote Alaskan communities since 1956. The program partners with the Salvation Army and numerous volunteers to spread holiday cheer, continuing its tradition of support.
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\n Approximately 50 Alaska National Guard service members, volunteers from the Salvation Army, AKNG Child and Youth Program and others visited the southeastern Alaskan city of Yakutat, Dec. 18, 2024. Operation Santa Claus, a longstanding annual community outreach program of the AKNG, has provided gifts such as toys, backpacks, and books to children in remote Alaskan communities since 1956. The program partners with the Salvation Army and numerous volunteers to spread holiday cheer, continuing its tradition of support.
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\n Approximately 50 Alaska National Guard service members, volunteers from the Salvation Army, AKNG Child and Youth Program and others visited the southeastern Alaskan city of Yakutat, Dec. 18, 2024. Operation Santa Claus, a longstanding annual community outreach program of the AKNG, has provided gifts such as toys, backpacks, and books to children in remote Alaskan communities since 1956. The program partners with the Salvation Army and numerous volunteers to spread holiday cheer, continuing its tradition of support. (Alaska National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Seth LaCount)
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YAKUTAT, Alaska \u2013Approximately 50 Alaska National Guard service members, volunteers from the Salvation Army, AKNG Child and Youth Program, and others visited the southeastern Alaskan city of Yakutat on Dec. 18.<\/p>\n

Operation Santa Claus is an annual community outreach program to deliver holiday cheer to rural Alaskan communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is such an exciting time for all the kids who have been looking forward to seeing Santa,\u201d said Velvet Ivers, a retired Yakutat educator and community schools grant coordinator who has lived in the Yakutat community for more than 40 years. \u201cI wish we had something like this when I was a kid. This is such a treat.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group traveled to Yakutat on a C-17 Globemaster III, belonging to the Alaska Air Guard\u2019s 144th Airlift Squadron. The aircraft carried two Alaska Army National Guard Humvees and one pickup truck loaded with gifts for the children.<\/p>\n

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\n Approximately 50 Alaska National Guard service members, volunteers from the Salvation Army, AKNG Child and Youth Program and others visited the southeastern Alaskan city of Yakutat, Dec. 18, 2024. Operation Santa Claus, a longstanding annual community outreach program of the AKNG, has provided gifts such as toys, backpacks, and books to children in remote Alaskan communities since 1956. The program partners with the Salvation Army and numerous volunteers to spread holiday cheer, continuing its tradition of support.
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Mr. and Mrs. Claus arrived at the Yakutat school aboard one of the Humvees. The local children warmly greeted them with a rendition of jingle bells in English and Tlingit, the indigenous language native to that region of Alaska.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is something that the community has been looking forward to for a long time and has brought so much Christmas spirit to the community,\u201d said Reanna Brown, one of the Yakutat educators. \u201cMy daughter asked me why the military are the ones bringing Santa, and I told her because he needs their protection.\u201d<\/p>\n

The festivities moved inside the school, where Mrs. Claus read a book to the children before Guardsmen handed out presents to each child. The children also enjoyed ice cream delivered by Anchorage-based ice cream stores.<\/p>\n

The AKNG Child and Youth Program brought three of its youth council members to the event this year to celebrate with the local children. The youth council volunteered their time to wrap the presents and put them in backpacks before the trip.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m honored to be able to attend and give back to the community like this,\u201d said Sean Kegan, the parliamentarian for the youth council, who oversees the group\u2019s meetings and event planning. \u201cIt\u2019s great to be able to travel and share in the festivities with all
these excited kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Guard\u2019s partnership with the Salvation Army has been a crucial part of the operation since its inception.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes an entire community to make this happen, and we couldn\u2019t have done it without our partners in the Guard,\u201d said Jenni Ragland, a service extension and disaster services director with The Salvation Army. \u201cThe community puts a lot of work into making this happen, and we\u2019re happy to share in the celebration. I can\u2019t wait to see where we go in the coming years.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2022, 31 members of the Alaska Guardsmen took part in a crucial snow removal operation after a snowstorm nearly collapsed the local school\u2019s roof in Yakutat. This year\u2019s visit highlights the continued commitment that the Guard has to its communities in need.<\/p>\n

This year, Operation Santa Claus 2024 was conducted in the towns of Circle, Crooked Creek, and Yakutat. The teams brought joy to more than 200 children and moved nearly 1,000 pounds of cargo and 60 passengers. On their way to a successful year, they overcame many challenges, including weather and logistical obstacles.<\/p>\n

The joint mission of Operation Santa Claus showcased the strength of the Air and Army National Guard and the partnership with the Salvation Army, with contributions from the 297th Regional Support Group, 38th Troop Command, the 176th and 168th Wings, as well as the Air and Army headquarters staff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 \/ 7 Show Caption + Hide Caption \u2013 Approximately 50 Alaska National Guard service members, volunteers from the Salvation Army, AKNG Child and Youth Program and others visited the southeastern Alaskan city of Yakutat, Dec. 18, 2024. Operation Santa Claus, a longstanding annual community outreach program of the AKNG, has provided gifts such as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":336311,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-336309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=336309"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":336320,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336309\/revisions\/336320"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/336311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=336309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=336309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=336309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}