2025 December Volunteer of the Month - Toys for Kids & Adopt a Family Volunteers

For many of us, Christmas is a time that allows us to shower our children with gifts of toys, clothing and things that bring joy to children who eagerly await Santa Claus’s trip down the chimney.  But for many, Christmas brings a time that others struggle to pay the rent, put food on the table and pay the utility bill.  This means that Santa’s visit to the Christmas tree is not likely to happen.

For decades, the Toys for Kids and Adopt-a-Family program has successfully assisted Santa in visiting those homes. In 2025, these programs served 189 families with 528 kids by providing toys and other needs to help bring joy and a bit of happiness to their Christmas.  Chief Elf Lisa Ryken (Volunteer of the Month December, 2020 and Pam Kettering Spirit of Volunteer Award winner for 2020/2021) and Deputy Chief Elves Bob and Linda Peitz (Volunteers of the Month June 2021 and Pam Kettering Spirit of Volunteer Award winners for 2021/2022) have been integral volunteers to the Toys for Kids program for several years and have done much of the work to make the Toys for Kids holiday program so successful.

Neither of these programs could be successful without the unwavering support of many volunteer elves that help organize the programs, collect the donated gifts, wrap, and help distribute them to local families to place under the Christmas tree.  A few of these elves have spent many years making this their holiday project, to bring smiles to children’s faces on Christmas.

Toys for Kids and Adopt-a-Family volunteers come to dedicate their time, talent and passion to spread the holiday spirit with kids and families.  You can imagine that wrapping gifts for over 500 kids would take some Christmas magic!  That magic comes from the hearts of the volunteers.  And when the local donor Santas comes to deliver the gifts, volunteers help collect and organize the gifts to be distributed the next day to recipient families.  When the families come to receive the gifts, busy elves help carry the gift to their vehicles and wish each of them a Merry Christmas.  The programs could not exist without them!

Because of their commitment to making the holiday season so special to so many, United Way & Volunteer Services of Greater Yankton was honored to present the Volunteers of the Toys for Kids and Adopt-a-Family Programs with the December 2025 Volunteer of the Month Award.

Thank you, Toys for Kids and Adopt-a-Family Volunteers, for all you do. To learn more about local volunteer opportunities or to nominate someone for United Way’s Volunteer of the Month Award, please visit www.yanktonunitedway.org/volunteer, email volunteer@yanktonunitedway.org, or call United Way of Greater Yankton at (605) 665-6766.