“I said, ‘Hey, I’m doing Santa for this thing, and I need an elf. Let’s do this.’,” Fleeger said.
Santa brought his Springfield Air National Guard colleague, fellow donor and elf assistant Patricia Campbell Yeary, who made her 53rd lifetime donation. Santa and Yeary then made rounds visiting other donors and handing out candy canes.
Fleeger and Yeary have both been retired after serving 25 years together in the Springfield Air National Guard.
“He said, ‘Santa’s going to show up, could you be my elf?,’ I said, ‘I’m going to have to get a costume,’” she said. “I Googled Santa helper elf costume,”
Ginny Coffman, who also donated at the drive due to the critical need for her type O-negative blood, didn’t expect to see Santa. She gave blood across from two elves donating in the beds across from her.
“I never suspected I’d see Santa and Mrs. Claus here tonight,” she said.
Another Springfield donor Beth Scott said she’s been going to the Maiden Lane drive for years and had never seen Santa and Mrs. Claus.
There were 80 donors, including 15 platelet and plasma donors at the drive.
Although Fleeger is a professional Santa, he donates back “any payment he receives” because being Santa with donors has a special place in his heart.
“When I lost my job, I went to work at the base. I was working in the chaplains programs. That year we went out to take care of about 53 families. Somehow, I got tapped to be Santa and that’s how the whole thing started,” he said. “We went to the local women’s shelter for their Christmas party and I was humbled pretty quickly. I said to myself, ‘You don’t have it that bad.’ My mission became when I get a chance to give, I’ve got to step up.”
To make an appointment at any of the center’s blood drives, visit www.DonorTime.com.
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