Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus stopped by The Bloom House this past Saturday morning to grant Christmas wishes for foster children.

“It was wonderful,” The Bloom House founder Kristen Jones said. “We had a lot of people fighting back the tears because they say how happy it made the kids.”

More than 50 children were able to meet Santa during The Bloom House’s first Christmas gift giveaway.

Thanks to The Bloom House, every child who came was able to receive a Christmas gift.

The children were also allowed to pick a gift to give to someone else, albeit a foster parent or a sibling who couldn’t come. Volunteers dressed as elves assisted the children with wrapping their gift and helped them add a note on a tag for its recipient.

The decorations inside the house helped set the tone for the day. The Bloom House had everything it needed to make it feel like Christmas inside.

“We had a Christmas tree, and we had the staircase decorated,” Jones said. “The Morgan Academy cheerleaders made a big sign that said ‘Joy to the World,’ so when they came in they saw the big sign.”

The kids had a variety of gifts to choose from. After they met Santa, they were able to go and choose one from the stacks on the tables. Gift bags filled with socks, underwear or other items that were requested sat along the stairs for the kids to take too.

“All of the gifts were donated from the community,” Jones said. “The items they shopped from to give to others was just a variety of things like earrings, keychains and picture frames.”

A couple children found their way into the clothing area, which wasn’t a part of the giveaway to look for clothes for a baby in their family. They were caught looking for a sock or onesie for the baby, but Jones and the volunteers at The Bloom House let them keep the clothes and wrap it as a gift.

“Every child would leave with something,” Jones said. “We’ve just built relationships with these children over the course of the little while that we’ve been around, and it just continues to grow and grow.”

The Bloom House is a 501(c) 3 non-profit that opened its doors this year to provide a place for foster kids and families to come for help and support. Their mission is “to advocate for and serve children in the foster care system with the love of their Heavenly Father so they may come to know Him personally.”

Even though Jones was expecting a better turnout, the Christmas gift give away was still a big success for those who did come.

“Just to see the joy on their faces, and I feel like it just gave them hope,” Jones said. “It was really important to me that they would know that they were seen. Their community saw them, and Christmas can be happy and joyful. Santa did make a trip to come and make their day special.”