A holiday tradition with a reason.
Santa's Helpers is a circle of volunteers in Baltimore. Since 1983 we've made sure the holidays still arrive for children facing cancer and other critical illnesses, and for the brothers and sisters who share those seasons with them.
It started with one boy.
Michael Linzey was a choir boy, a baseball player and a devoted wrestling fan. That's his story, and it's how we remember him.
He was also a patient at Johns Hopkins. Michael had mesenchymal chondrosarcoma, a rare cancer of the bone and soft tissue. His treatment took three major surgeries, two years of chemotherapy, 38 inpatient stays at Johns Hopkins Hospital and four weeks of outpatient radiation. Damage to his spinal cord kept him in a wheelchair for his final six months.
Through all of it, he kept raising money for other kids with cancer, working with the Children's Cancer Foundation to fund research and a new children's outpatient center at Johns Hopkins. He died in December 1982. He was fourteen.
The next holiday season, Santa's Helpers began in his memory. Pat and Dave Linzey remain involved to this day, and we are always glad to welcome new helpers.
Our Christmas story.
The people who keep Santa's Helpers going, in their own words.
A family's story
A family we've delivered to talks about their holiday.Pat and Dave Linzey
Michael's parents on how Santa's Helpers began.Heather Galatka, Gilchrist
A social worker on what the gifts mean to the families she refers.Who we serve, and what they get.
Children facing cancer and other critical illnesses, referred by the hospital and hospice social workers who know them best. Every child 18 and under in the house is included.
3Special wishes per child
Callers confirm every wish by phone.
Surprise gifts
Smaller extras, so there's plenty to unwrap.
A stocking or gift bag
Packed by volunteers.
Breakfast foods
When a social worker tells us a family needs them.
Clothing, when a parent asks
Added when a parent requests it.
Our hospital and hospice partners.
Johns Hopkins social workers chose our very first family in 1983. In the years that followed, the University of Maryland Medical Center and Sinai Hospital opened their doors to us too. About a dozen years ago, Gilchrist Kids, a pediatric hospice, joined the circle.
