Texas is full of big-hearted people, including the Texas Society of CPAs! Every year, their Fort Worth chapter comes together to play Santa (or SantaAccountants!) for local children in need. For over 20 years, Fort Worth CPAs have provided Christmas gifts to the children at the Center for Transforming Lives (CTL, formerly known as the YMCA).
Four out of five of the children served at a CTL childcare facility are from low-income families, including those in extreme poverty and homelessness. More than 75% of children age 5 and younger in emergency shelters and transitional housing programs in this region are cared for by the CTL, at no cost to their parents. For many of the children at CTL, the gifts they receive from SantaAccountants make up their entire Christmas. Our Director of Finance David Antonelli has been participating with SantaAccountants for about ten years now, and this year was no exception!
Each year, SantaAccountants are assigned a certain number of children or families, with wish lists from the kids to guide their shopping. The gifting goals are relatively modest in order to impact as many children and families as possible. Most years, they gift each child a toy and an item of clothing. But this year, David and his wife Miranda Trussell took advantage of some budget shopping, and with funding from Random Acts, they were able to gift each of their 10 assigned children two toys, a shirt, and a winter coat. Overall, this was the best year for SantaAccountants so far, making the season a little merrier for nearly 450 kids.