Santa-America, Inc., Daphne, Ala., has been awarded a $35,000 grant from Jewelers for Children. The funding, which comes from the Jeffrey W. Comment Memorial Endowment Fund, will support Santa-America and its mission “to bring symbolic gifts representing love, hope and joy to special children and their families in hospice, long-term pediatric care or suffering from post-traumatic stress.”

Santa-America is an organization that provides more than one-hundred Santas to visit children and families in crisis throughout America.

Comment was the chief executive officer of Helzberg Diamonds and developed a program encouraging business executives to visit children in hospitals during the week before Christmas and bring a teddy bear for every child. He was the author of the book “Santa’s Gift,” which is distributed by Santa-America to hospital and hospice staffs nationwide. He passed away in 2004 after a bout with cancer.  

“The support from Jewelers for Children enables us to continue to expand our impact throughout the United States and across the globe,” said Santa Ernest Berger, president and founder of Santa-America. “Santa-America is proud to keep the spirit of Jeffrey Comment alive through our 2007 priority projects including the distribution of symbolic gifts, including ‘Santa Hugs,’ the ‘Polar Express Bells,’ and the book ‘When Santa Visits.’ The support of Jewelers for Children also continues to insure that our recruiting efforts meet the highest standards, including the same background check as a doctor, nurse or social worker.” 

David Rocha, JFC executive director added: “Santa-America embodies the work of Jeff Comment and we are proud to support Santa’s visit to our special children throughout the year. In addition to the connection to Jeffrey Comment, our industry has an excellent way to provide a lasting and therapeutic expression of Love, Hope and Joy to our community.”

JCK