Mrs. Claus and her elves bring joy to sick kids in Tri-Cities hospitals
Jazz Little knows what it feels like to be sick at Christmas.
And he’s doing what he can to make other young patients feel a bit better.
For more than half his life, the 12-year-old has been taking gifts to kids in pediatric wards at Tri-Cities hospitals.
“We look forward to this annual giving back because it feels so great to bring joy to families who are going through a tough time,” said his mom, Jennifer “Mrs. Claus” Little.
On Monday, Jazz and his younger brother Jaxon, 11, delivered more than a hundred toys, stuffed animals and games to Trios Southridge Hospital in Kennewick and Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland.
They also delivered lots of Christmas joy.
The idea for the annual event started when Jazz was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease when he was 3. The painful intestinal disease forced him to spend many holidays and birthdays hospitalized.
He’s now considered in remission, said his mother.
Understanding first-hand the stress children and their families undergo during extended hospital stays made it an easy decision to help pediatric patients during the holidays, she said.
Their efforts grow each year with more people and vehicles needed to deliver the presents.
“It’s all about the joy for the kids,” she said.
They were accompanied Monday by her radio show co-host Adam Lamberd from 94.9 The Wolf, as well as Numerica Credit Union employees and officers from the Kennewick and Richland police departments.
Each year, the radio station supports the Little family in gathering donations by hosting the Christmas Tree of Cash & Prizes and collects new, unwrapped toys from the community.
In exchange, people who donate can take a prize envelope from the station’s tree, and this year more than $400 was donated back for gifts for the kids, Little said.
The tree is sponsored by the radio station, the Kennewick Police Department Foundation, Gregory Drilling and Numerica Credit Union. The KPD Foundation donated $1,000 in cash and other prizes for the tree.