Santa’s Posse, organized by the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, delivered toys and food to 1,500 families in need Saturday morning

Paul Valencia
ClarkCountyToday.com

Todd Barsness was at a conference when other law enforcement officials from outside of Clark County inquired about Santa’s Posse.

Wait, they asked, there is no dedicated funding?

Nope. All donations. About $200,000 a year, Barsness tells them

All volunteers?

Yep.

You take donations of toys or buy toys, and then there are companies in the region that store the toys throughout the year?

Sure thing. 

Oh, and Santa’s Posse also purchases food, too?

Of course.

Not only that, Barsness says, a few days before the delivery date, more than 300 people show up at the Clark County Event Center to box the food and bag the toys.

Finally, on a Saturday morning in December, hundreds of more volunteers show up with their families and vehicles to pick up the toys, pick up the food, and in some cases, pick up bicycles, and deliver them to 1,500 families in need all around Clark County.

Barsness, a longtime law enforcement officer at the Clark County Sheriff’s Office who is now a commander,  just loves talking about the whole operation. He has worked with Santa’s Posse since 2003, but this is his first year as the president of the posse.

His colleagues had one more question.

You do all this, and nothing goes missing?

“When you say it like that, it doesn’t make sense,” Barsness acknowledges. “But it works.”

Oh, it sure does work. Every year. 

Santa’s Posse is a partnership between the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and the local community, working together to collect and distribute toys and food to make a special Christmas holiday for less fortunate families in our community, according to the organization’s website.

Santa’s Posse started in 1997 with about 50 families and just a handful of law enforcement officials delivering the goods.

Now, Santa’s Posse delivers to 1,500 families in need, with the help of any and all who are willing to volunteer their time to pick up two, three, or four bags of toys, boxes of food, and head off to all corners of Clark County.

John Horch, the Clark County Sheriff, is always impressed by the number of volunteers. He showed up Saturday to thank them as they were getting their vehicles loaded with gifts to deliver. 

“You see them line up here, showing their kids what it means to be part of this,” Horch said. “We could not do it without the community.”

Marianne Hertsche and friend Bakira Riley, both of Vancouver, were the first in line, parked around 6:15 a.m. Originally scheduled to start loading cars at 8 a.m., Santa’s Posse made the call to start early this year, just after 7:30 a.m.

Hertsche said she showed up after 7 a.m. last year and had a long, long wait. Not that she was complaining. But this year, she had a plan.

“Let’s get there really early and have breakfast in the car and play cards,” she said.

This just might become a tradition.

“We really want to give back,” Hertsche said. “It was really good last year when I did it for the first time. I felt so good after, knowing I was able to do something to help somebody.”

“It makes the holiday all the more special,” Riley added.

Beyond the volunteers in their vehicles looking to deliver the toys, there were several volunteers helping with traffic control, loading, and serving coffee, hot chocolate, and water.

This year’s volunteer staff included an international connection with two foreign exchange students.

Ane Garmendia is from Spain. She attends Mountain View High School in Vancouver. 

“I like to help people, and I think it’s a fun experience,” Garmendia said. “We do volunteering in Spain, but it’s not the same. I wanted to experience the American way of volunteering.”

Carla Schulte also goes to Mountain View this academic year. She is from Germany. 

“We have stuff like this in Germany, and I love it. It’s a little smaller than this,” Schulte said.

She also compared the weather.

“It’s way colder (in Germany),” she said, “but not as wet.”

Oh, it poured at times as Santa’s Posse was getting ready to head out to all the Clark County homes Saturday. 

But it was an outpouring of love and service that will be remembered more than the weather after another successful ride for Santa’s Posse.