Eighth Judicial Circuit Bar Association hopes a little Christmas cheer will last a lifetime.

• Author: Williams, Toyca
• Position: Florida

It's 6 a.m. on a cool December morning in Gainesville, and Santa's helpers of the Eighth Judicial Circuit Bar Association are quickly tying loose ends, packaging gifts, organizing, and placing the final touches on one of their largest, yet most rewarding, projects of the year.

Donned in the traditional red suit and hat trimmed in white, black boots, a padded midsection, white hair and beard, and a bag full of goodies, attorney Carl Schwait is more excited than the hundreds of children anxiously waiting to see him.

For the past two years, Santa Carl and his helpers have brought Christmas joy to more than 300 smiling students and staff at Duval Elementary School.

"Regardless of their family's circumstances, not one of these children chose to be in the position he or she is in," said attorney Margaret Stack, one of the program coordinators. "We want them to know that there is a community of people around them who is willing to give a bit of themselves to make their lives a little brighter."

Sometimes in the wee hours of the morning, Stack and other volunteer lawyers from the Eight Judicial Bar Association (EJCBA) spend countless hours purchasing gifts, stuffing stockings, and wrapping presents.

In 2003, in honor of a former Florida Bar's president's challenge to serve the children of the state, then president Schwait asked his board of directors to take part in a yearly community outreach program with emphasis on children. Little did he know that an initial pledge to donate 10 filled stockings would turn into a whopping 342, $45 in gifts for each child at a school once labeled one of the poorest in the county. EJCBA collected contributions in excess of $14,000 in six weeks.

Due to an even larger enrollment of students this year, EJCBA provided holiday cheer to 290 students in December, kindergarten through third grade. Additionally, the association partnered with the Anchor program, a program devoted exclusively to elementary students from homeless families, about 70 students...