Maria’s ‘Breakfast With Santa’ makes Christmas brighter
Naples Daily News – Dec. 11, 2018
By Andrew Atkins
Santa’s job just isn’t as easy as it used to be. With more than 2 billion children in the world, the job Mr. Claus faces grows more difficult every year.
He should be thankful, then, for Maria’s Birthday Wishes for the Homeless, a nonprofit that distributed meals and Christmas gifts to more than 300 impoverished people — mostly children — Saturday morning at the Chick-fil-A on Airport-Pulling Road.
The organization, according to president Maria Wassef, works throughout the year to provide cupcakes for birthdays at homeless shelters and educate children on the importance of kindness, but Saturday’s “Breakfast With Santa” event is one of the biggest the nonprofit organizes each year. In fact, it took at least five SUVs full of gifts to get all the presents to the chicken joint. This is the event’s eighth year.
“It’s a special day for the kids. It’s all about the kids,” Wassef said.
That it was: the first group of kids, through the Gargiulo Education Center, were there by 8 a.m. They munched on chicken and fries before taking their turn to go see one of Santa’s helpers and grabbing some sweets to take with them.
Mary Asta, executive director of Gargiulo Education Center, said the event supports the kids.
“These kids need additional support to know that they are loved and are cared about,” she said. She requested that the children’s last names not be used.
Ignacio, 13, attended through the center, and said he was excited to get the presents, but he had no real preference for what he got. Victor, 7, said he enjoyed himself — especially when the Chick-fil-A mascot came out dressed just like Santa Claus.
“The cow came,” he said through a smile.
The real Mr. Claus, of course, has so much to do at the North Pole that he couldn’t make in person. Instead, he sent Maria’s husband, Max Wassef, to stand in for him and play the part of Santa for the day.
David Bates, marketing manager with Chick-fil-A, said the event fits in well with the restaurant’s mission.
“Chick-fil-A is all about community and whatever we can help out with,” he said.
Santa had his helpers in attendance — the human variety, though, not the elven — like volunteers from the Vanderbilt Country Club, who sponsored the Gargiulo Education Center and helped buy and distribute gifts and goodies to the children.
One of the volunteers, Kathie Hughes, said the children are the best part of the whole experience.
“They’re so sweet, and they have nothing,” she said. “It’s a way to give back. It’s what Christmas is all about.”
Maria Wassef would be inclined to agree, saying there’s “nothing like it. Giving is living, without a doubt.”
The kids took presents with them as they left, though they may have to wait until Christmas to open them.
Lynn Lewis and Barbara Hyer attended on behalf of Wine Tasters of Naples. Part of the dues for the social organization go toward charity, including Maria’s Birthday Wishes for the Homeless during the holiday season.
Their contributions went toward St. Matthew’s House, a Naples homeless shelter. Their donations provided gifts for more than just children there this year — children, parents and adults without children get Christmas gifts.
“It’s just rewarding top see the children and even the parents,” Hyer said.
Missy Nickerson attended with her daughter, Pamela, who will turn 12 in about a week, as residents of Wolfe Apartments through St. Matthew’s House. It was their first time attending, and, in fact, their first Christmas together, Missy Nickerson said.
“To be included in events like this is huge for my family,” she said. “It’s more precious than anything, to spend Christmas with my daughter.”
Pamela shared that thought: though she’d like a skateboard for Christmas, she said she’s most excited to spend Christmas with her mom.
Michelle Arizola, another Wolfe Apartments resident, will also have her first Christmas with her son, Christian, who is 2. She’s grateful for the support she received through St. Matthew’s House.
“If it wasn’t for them, I don’t know that I’d have my son today,” she said. She’s planning to buy a tree this week, and she said she can’t wait to see her son’s face on Christmas.
Lise Descoteaux, Residential Manager for The Shelter for Abused Women & Children, attended on behalf of those who could not attend for their own protection. The event helps remind the women of the good in the world.
“They feel valued, they feel acknowledged. They feel like they’re not forgotten,” Descoteaux said.
Descoteaux described Maria Wassef as “an angel on Earth, really.”
Maria’s Birthday Wishes for the Homeless operates in Los Angeles and provides a similar service to those in need on the west coast, Maria Wassef said. She boiled her feelings of the day, despite the cacophony and the chaos and the stress of organizing it all:
“This is my Christmas,” she said.
