How much does this cost to participate?

Our program is free for all, run entirely by volunteers, and is supported by donations. Expenses exceed $4000 each year and we donate as much as possible, Please see our donate page for ways to contribute. Your donation goes to our storage, rental, costume, cleaning, mailing fees, business fees, and gifts for families requesting support.

I can’t afford a gift, or I want to donate a gift to someone who can’t afford it.

Each year we support a handful of families and provide the gift(s) for Santa to bring on a visit. We typically have generous individuals contact us who would like to provide these gifts anonymously. We sometimes have more generous people offering to supply gifts than those requesting gifts. Bonus donations and surplus finances are gifted to social workers and counselors in town for families who need support.

If you are going through a rough time, please register and leave us a note of the gender and age of your child/children and their interests, and Santa will bring a suitable gift on Christmas Eve. You will need to be home and receive the gifts on Christmas Eve during Santa’s visiting hours and you may receive a phone call or email to confirm or to find out more information about a wish list. Your information and situation will be kept private by default.

If you would like to offer to shop and donate for a gift, you can also include a note in your registration, and we will contact you if the need comes up. We also use some of our monetary donations towards unfilled gifts, so please consider a financial donation as well.

Oh no! I forgot to register! Is it too late?

We aim to accept all families who want to and are eligible to participate. Use our late registration phone number or see if the online registration form is still available if you think you are late. As a last resort just show up on Gift Drop day. If it’s past gift drop day, call one of the phone numbers on our contact page. Our volunteers work to be accommodating and try to get everyone in and can generally accomplish that!

I didn’t get a postcard this year.

We have historically paid to use the General Mailing system in town. Our volunteers print, fold and drop off postcards to the USPS, fees are paid and what happens from there was out of our control. Sorry. We know people were not receiving them. With rising costs and the availability of electronic resources, we have decided to phase out the large scale mailing.

The best thing to do is plan to register the week before Thanksgiving every year that you plan to participate. You’ll help our planning, save some recycling, save our volunteer run program money, and can rest assured you are signed up to participate!

What is up with the age cut-off?

Our program is designed to have the best experience for our community, which includes our volunteers. If there are no excited “believers” in the house, Santa generally doesn’t have a great time. If you have young kids and older kids, all children are definitely welcome to participate and receive gifts. If you have a house full of teenagers and no one under the age of 12, it’s a great time to start volunteering with our program!

How do I register?

You may register by filling out the online form (preferred), emailing bedfordsanta@gmail.com, OR by calling us at: (781)275-1680. If you are calling, leave a message with the following information: [your name (please spell your last name), your address, your phone number and the number of gifts to be delivered]. You only need to choose one method of registration. We may call if we have additional questions, so please be sure your phone number is provided. If you are unsure of how many gifts you will want Santa to deliver or if you think that your plans/numbers change, please register now with your best guess and contact us later to update your plans.