His helpers certain Santa’s real

There was one thing 7-year-old Noah really wanted to know when Santa’s elves called his Spokane Valley home Thursday night.

“Am I on the bad list?” he asked.

“No, you’re on the good list. Don’t worry,” said Jingles, one of Santa’s elves, aka 13-year-old Alicia Davis, an eighth-grader at Greenacres Middle School.

For the seventh year, students in the Spirit Service Club at Greenacres posed as Santa’s elves, calling a select group of Spokane Valley schoolchildren in preschool through the second grade. Gathered around a telephone in the detention office, Jingles, Candy (Christina Nelson, 13) and Coco (Alissa Burbridge, 14) kept Noah entertained for at least another 10 minutes.

But first, the elves had to convince the boy they were for real.

“Who is this, really?” Noah asked.

“It’s Santa’s elves calling from the North Pole. It’s snowing here,” said Candy.

“Huh-uh. Really? Then what’s Santa doing? What kind of shoes are you wearing? Is Rudolph’s nose red? What does the North Pole look like? Are there any presents in his sleigh yet?” Noah demanded, without taking a breath.

“OK, OK, we’ve got to go, Noah.”

“Where’s Santa? Can Santa come to the phone?”

“No, he’s off working on the list,” said Jingles. “He’s got to check it twice, you know.”

Hanging up, the girls erupted into a fit of very elf-like giggles.

“This is so fun,” Coco said. “Let’s call another one.”

The 40-member service club doesn’t just imitate elves. It’s designed to promote school spirit and community service by getting involved in a variety of projects.

Last month, club members made fleece hats and scarves and donated them to Project Linus, a national nonprofit organization that distributes handmade blankets and quilts to needy children. Next week, they’ll help the Spokane Valley Community Center with holiday gift distribution for low-income families.

On Wednesday and Thursday night, they held the annual Santa’s elves event, eating pizza and wearing elf hats.

The elves broke off into groups, listening as the children read off the items on their Christmas lists on a speaker phone, chatted about their families and their Christmas trees. The elves filled the kids in on Christmas-preparation events at the North Pole.

“It helps them believe for just a little longer…that Santa is real,” said Christine Bowles, 12. She said she stills remember when she stopped believing in Santa.

“When I was about nine, I saw my brother put some presents under the tree,” Bowles said. “I was bummed. Kids just really need something to believe in.”