Here Comes Santa's Workshop!

L to R: Christina Rivas, Lori  Dowgielewicz and
Jenny Markovich

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Our elves at Santa’s Workshop are gearing up for another magical season of giving. Lori Dowgielewicz and Christina Rivas are the Red Cross volunteer co-leads for Santa’s Workshop at Fort Knox. Lori is a retired veteran and Christina is active duty. They both arrived on base last summer and wanted to see about volunteer opportunities. They found Red Cross and May Giulitto, our Service to the Armed Forces (SAF) Director.

“I always thought the Red Cross was just blood drives. In the army, I gave blood as much as I could… Being here, it’s fulfilling. I bring my daughter to volunteer with me. Instilling in her the importance of giving time and talents as a mother is rewarding,” said Lori.

Santa’s Workshop provides toys for military families who are financially insecure during the holiday season. Soldiers and spouses shop our inventory for their children. “Every gift to families is donated by someone else. We take donations all year long… We have 55-gallon drum barrels we sign out to units and take collections in. The units come and do road marches over here and put toys in their ruck sacks,” said Lori.

Santa's Workshop entrance

It's a needs-based program, so it doesn’t matter if you are an E-1 (entry level paygrade) or lieutenant colonel. Shop week is coming up on December 4^th-8^th. The volunteer team is hard at work sorting the gifts and decorating the space. “It’s really inspiring. Coming through the ranks I understand those lower enlisted don’t get paid a lot… Our programs here are phenomenal,” said Christina.

Soldiers and their spouses will walk into a festive space with holiday music and refreshments while they shop. “We are giving each family a basket filled with cookie dough, frosting, a cookie cutter and spatula so they can bake cookies as a family activity. We have been working with the food pantry to get those items donated,” Lori explained. “We are fortunate enough that we have some generous people in our community donate higher price items like bicycles and hoverboards…We had a Nintendo Switch donated. Because we don’t have enough of those to give every family, we use those as opportunities for a drawing.”

Parents with kids 10 and under will also receive a bag with stocking stuffers. Christina and Lori are excited to meet the soldiers and provide them holiday cheer. “It means a lot. Being part of the Red Cross is absolutely amazing. It warms my heart… The parents find appreciation and joy of receiving something for their kids,” said Christina. Christina is also a member of our Disaster Action Team (DAT) on call to respond to house fires, floods and other disasters.