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Created: December 19, 2024

During the holidays, it’s easy to get lost in the hustle and bustle. Taking a moment to slow down and do something kind for others can be a productive way to recenter and celebrate the spirit of holiday giving. At C-TRAN, our employees have a longstanding tradition of giving back to our community. Over the years, we partnered with organizations like Share Vancouver to hold drives for food and gifts. For the past few holiday seasons, we’ve lent a helping hand to Santa’s Posse.

Formed in 1997, Santa’s Posse is a partnership between the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and the local community to collect and deliver gifts and food to local families, making their holidays memorable and fostering positive contacts with law enforcement. While the spirit of the program hasn’t changed, its reach is very different than it was almost three decades ago. Its first year benefitted 25 families; as of today, it has increased exponentially to serve over 1,500 families. In 2024 alone, over 4,800 children have received deliveries from Santa’s Posse.

C-TRAN Lead Travel Trainer Veronica Marti suggested that C-TRAN help with deliveries in 2020, marking the first year that the agency became part of the Posse.

“I first learned about Santa’s Posse in 2017,” she says. “My family and I always look forward to volunteering and pulling up to the delivery pick-up line with hot cocoa in hand and Christmas music playing in the vehicle. It’s become one of my favorite traditions.”

After finding joy and fulfillment from her own participation, she asked if C-TRAN would be willing to enlist its fleet to help with deliveries. “Santa’s Posse is a wonderful organization, and I appreciate the work they do every year to make the holiday season brighter for families in our community,” Marti says.

C-TRAN’s involvement with the program was a natural fit—Santa’s Posse had goods to transport, and C-TRAN had the vehicles to do so. The morning of the distribution event, bags full of toys, boxes of food, and bikes are all packed into C-VAN demand response vehicles and whisked away to their new homes. The operation is no small feat, but it flows smoothly thanks to an expansive network of volunteers. During this year’s event on December 14, C-TRAN’s demand response team sent two C-VAN vehicles to deliver gifts to 31 families, which included 87 children in total. C-TRAN drivers make an impact on our passengers’ lives every day, but ensuring that Santa is able to make all of his deliveries on time is special in a different way.

In addition to offering their time and skills to deliver holiday magic, C-TRAN employees have also collected items for distribution over the past two years. Manager of Operations Jill Carillo has organized her team’s participation in the event since C-TRAN first became involved in 2020.

“What was so special about this year is that we did the drive, and we were able to participate in the process all the way from employees donating toys and then employees delivering them to families,” Carrillo says. “It’s a full-circle thing. A lot of times, like in past years, you just drop things off, but employees actually delivering items from other employees made it really wonderful.”

Prior to handing off donations from C-TRAN staff to Santa’s Posse organizers, Manager of DEI and Organizational Development Chandra Washington took inventory of everything that people contributed to measure the impact of their efforts. Leading up to the delivery date, boxes overflowed with items that would soon make their way to local families. Overall, C-TRAN employees donated over 250 pounds of food and over 100 individual gifts.

“People brought everything from formula and diapers to purses and stuffed animals,” Washington says. “These thoughtful gifts were truly inclusive of all ages.”