Fall 2013 Hello Lakeville Parks and Recreation Department is once again hosting the annual Santa’s Secret Store. For those who may not be familiar with the store, information is attached. We’re looking for volunteers to help with Santa’s Secret Store. As a matter of fact, without volunteers, “Santa’s Secret Store” would not be possible. Positions available are listed on the next page. Most positions are available in 2 ½ hours shifts. Please select preference of shift or if you have a really ambitious group we would love to have you for both shifts! Please call me at 952-985-4610 if you have any questions, or return the attached form by November 4, 2013. Sincerely, City of Lakeville Patty Dexter Recreation Supervisor 952-985-4610 pdexter@lakevillemn.gov 20195 Holyoke Avenue, Lakeville, MN 55044 952-985-4400  952-985-4499 fax www.lakevillemn.gov HOLIDAY PROGRAMS SANTA’S SECRET STORE LETTER FROM SANTA LOCATION - MCGUIRE MIDDLE SCHOOL 21220 HOLYOKE AVE. Kids enjoy hassle-free holiday shopping! Santa’s Secret Store is specially designed for children to purchase gifts for family and friends. Great gifts will be available, priced from $1 to $15. Children and parents work together to make a shopping list including who to buy for and how much to spend on each person. Then it’s shopping time! While parents wait in the coffee shop, volunteers assist the children with their gifts. Gifts are wrapped and brought home to remain a secret until the holidays. With your help, a personal letter from Santa Claus can be arranged for your child. Letters will be mailed the week of Dec. 16. Register online or print a form at www.lakevillemn.gov. One form per child. Forms MUST be received in our office no later than Dec. 1. All ages welcome Sat., Dec. 7, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Ages 3-7 Tues., Dec. 10 Thurs., Dec. 12 Either night works for us VOLUNTEERSWANTED & NEEDED Volunteers are needed for Fri., Dec. 6 and Sat., Dec. 7  Friday night set-up  Shopper helpers  Gift wrappers Interested volunteers should call 952-9854610 to receive a volunteer packet with full details. Completed packets need to be returned to Parks & Recreation by Nov. 18. Special thanks to all the volunteers who help make this event a success! $5 #6609 PHONE CALL FROM SANTA Sponsored by the Lakeville Lions Club. Calls will take place the evenings of Dec. 10 and 12 between 5-8 p.m. If your child does not receive Santa’s call, please call 952-985-4600 the following morning. Register online or print a form at www.lakevillemn.gov. One form per child. Forms MUST be received in our office no later than Dec. 1. FREE #6610 #6611 #6612 COOKIES FOR SANTA LOCATION - LAKEVILLE HERITAGE CENTER 20110 HOLYOKE AVE. Decorate cookies for Santa and enjoy lots of fun holiday activities! Mrs. Claus will stop by and read a story. All children must be accompanied by an adult. Deadline for registering is Dec. 1. Ages 2-10 with adult $7 per child, adults free Thurs., Dec. 5 4:30-5:15 p.m. 5:30-6:15 p.m. 6:30-7:15 p.m. #6659 #6660 #6661 Paid Advertisement Creating Community through People, Parks & Programs lakeville-rapconnect.com 5 Santa Secret Store Volunteer Information December 7, 2013 We hope you will consider helping out with the Santa Secret Store this year. Positions available include: Shopper Helpers: These people individually assist children in shopping for each person on their list. Small children often need help in choosing age and gender appropriate gifts for their family and friends. Shoppers must also keep track of the cost of each item the shopper picks out. We prefer older youth, at least 8th graders, to help out with shopping. Gift Wrappers: These volunteers wrap up each gift individually for the child, fill out the appropriate “to and from” tags and attach them to the gifts, and give the gifts back to the child. To volunteer as a wrapper you must signup as a group with a minimum of 4-6 youth and 2 adults. Groups will be assigned a “Reindeer” table, and become responsible for managing this table during a specific period of time. Merchandise Table Monitors: Monitor the merchandise table during the store hours. Restock merchandise as needed and keep tables organized. Assist shopper helper and children with merchandise. Cashiers: Three cashier positions are needed. Cashiers receiving cash from the customer, and then assigning a shopper helper to assist the customer at the entrance. The second type of cashier are those that calculate total gift sales and reimburse the customer any money that was not spent following shopping. Inventory: Upon completion of the Santa Store, inventory must be taken on all unsold merchandise, and boxed. Guest Relations: These volunteers will direct customers as they arrive to the Santa Store and all of its components. They will also locate the shopper’s guardian after the shopper has all gifts purchased, wrapped and bagged. Coffee/Donut Shop: These volunteers sell cookies, juice and coffee to the patrons visiting the coffee shop. This group provide all product and use this as a fundraising opportunity for their group Set Up: Assist with merchandise set up. GENERAL INFORMATION/HISTORY Santa’s Store was started in 1987 as a joint project between Lakeville Parks and Recreation Department and the Lakeville Senior Citizens Club. The store is designed to give children the opportunity to purchase low cost gifts for family and friends while keeping it secret from their parents. Children are very excited for the opportunity to purchase gifts, which will be a surprise to the whole family on Christmas Day. The seniors helped the children to shop, wrapped gifts, and ran a small coffee and cookie shop. Fortunately, Girl Scouts had also volunteered to come caroling during the first Santa’s Store in 1987. There was an overwhelming response to the store and all volunteers remained busy throughout the day. A majority of the Girl Scouts volunteered to help wrap gifts after they had finished caroling because of the large crowds waiting for gift-wrapping. It is hard to say how many individuals came through the store that first year, but to say that there were hundreds would certainly not be exaggerating. Since 1987, the store has continued on an annual basis and has remained very popular. Because of the great number of shoppers, we need many volunteers in addition to the seniors to help out with this event. With the growth of the program and the opening of the new Lakeville Water Treatment Facility, the Santa Store was relocated from the Senior Center to the Water Treatment Facility in 1998. However, even that facility was unable to accommodate the large crowd, so the store has been moved again to a much larger site at McGuire Middle School. Staff believes that because of increased space the store will be able to accommodate larger groups of people at the same time, so therefore the store was changed from two days to one day. McGuire Middle School will host the store in 2012, the 2012 store date is Dec. 1, 10am—2 pm. Here’s How It Works Items are purchased on consignment from a specialty store in Brooklyn Park. These items are then delivered to the McGuire Middle School where they are placed on tables according to price. Prices normally range from $1 to $15, increasing in 50-cent increments. Children come to Santa’s Secret Store most often accompanied by an adult. This adult helps the child to fill out a Christmas list of who the child will be shopping for and how much he or she is allowed to spend on each person. The list is then handed to the cashier who collects the full amount of shopping to be done before the child has shopped. Parents must then go to the coffee shop to wait for their child to finish shopping. The children are then accompanied by shopper helpers who assist them in selecting appropriate gifts for each person on their Christmas list. The child may not purchase a gift, which exceeds the price they were allotted to spend on this individual’s gift. They may, however, select a cheaper item for the individuals on their list. After the child has completed shopping for everyone on his or her shopping list, they return with the shopper helper to the cashier. At this time, the cashier returns any money, which was not spent by the shopper, to the shopper. The child then goes over to the gift wrapping tables to have his or her gifts wrapped. All wrapping paper, scissors, tape and tags are provided for volunteers in this area. The child has each gift wrapped and appropriately tagged, put in a bag, and is then ready to go to the coffee shop to get their parents. This completes the shopper’s trip to Santa’s Secret Store. In the coffee shop, volunteers sell cookies and coffee to the waiting adults. On Saturday, after the store is closed, the merchandise is inventoried and returned to the vendor. We are then charged only for the merchandise, which was sold. PROFIT? After purchasing the merchandise, wrapping paper, tape, tags, goodies, and advertising materials, it is fortunate if a profit is made. Any profits, which are made, are returned to the Parks and Recreation department to help cover the cost of special events throughout the year. It is the goal of Santa’s Secret Store to at least cover all expenses incurred. It is difficult to predict year to year how many patrons will visit the store. The store would certainly not be possible without the help of volunteers. Volunteer Signup Form  Santa Secret Store Volunteer Information Dec. 6, 7, 2013 Name of Group (Be specific) Contact Person Address City Phone: h) Zip w) The following number wish to sign up to volunteer. (Please circle preference of shift or if you have a really ambitious group we would love to have you for both shifts!) # of youth volunteers _______ Age of volunteers _______ # of adult volunteers _______ FRIDAY, December 6 Position Time Set-Up & Decorating—(prefer 15 and older) # (each time slot) Approx. 6 – 9 p.m. SATURDAY, December 7 Store Hours: 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Position Set Up(5-8 individuals) Shoppers (15-20 individuals per shift) Wrappers * (7 groups per shift) Merchandise Table Monitors (4-6 individuals per shift - prefer 16 and older) Cashier (4 individuals per shift - prefer 16 and older) Inventory (5 individuals per shift - prefer 16 and older) Guest Relations(4-5 individuals per shift)  Circle choice of Shift # (each time slot) 8:30 –10 a.m. 9:30 a.m. – Noon 11:45 am – 2:15pm 9:30 a.m. – Noon 11:45 am – 2:15pm 9:30 a.m. – Noon 11:45 am – 2:15pm 9:30 a.m. – Noon 11:45 am – 2:15pm 2 – 3 p.m. 9:30 a.m. – Noon 11:45 am – 2:15pm Must sign up as a group. Group consists of 4-8 youth and 2-4 adults. This position is ideal for the Brownie troops and the first years of Girl Scouts. Troops/Groups will be assigned a wrapping table creatively named after Santa’s reindeers. RETURN BY November 4, 2013 (positions assigned as received, until full) MAIL TO: Park and Recreation Patty Dexter, 20195 Holyoke Avenue, Lakeville, MN 55044 Phone: 952-985-4610 OR SCAN completed form and EMAIL TO: pdexter@lakevillemn.gov