Kingfisher County has been identified in a recent study as the second most generous in terms of per capita charitable giving.

That’s never more evident than during the holiday season, when businesses, churches, social organizations and individuals all dig deep to share the blessings of the season with those who are struggling financially.

Being able to make the holiday brighter for a gift recipientbrings its own kind of joy to the giver.

Which is a big reason why two local programs, one old and one new, offer the double blessing of allowing families in hardship to be both givers and receivers.

And this year, both programs also faced down some pandemic challenges while continuing to spread Christmas cheer.

Santa’s Toyland

Started more than 36 years ago by Kingfisher County Department of Human Services employees and now operated by Kingfisher Community Collaborative, Santa’s Toyland collects gifts and cash donations to provide children’s gifts for families in need.

Only instead of giving the gifts to children directly, Toyland volunteers shop for a variety of age-appropriate gifts for the children and teens on its list and then set up a shopping center at the fairgrounds Exhibit Building.

The system allows parents to come at a designated time and choose one large gift and a few smaller ones for each child, which they can then take home, wrap and stack under the tree for their children to find on Christmas morning.

Despite the pandemic which canceled its main fundraiser - a fall golf tournament - Toyland was still able to provide gifts for 216 children from 70 families.

“We could not have done that without so many people coming through for us with donations of gifts and cash,” organizer Brittney Hladik said.

“Our local businesses, schools and churches and so many generous individuals stepped up when so many families really needed it this year.”

Enough money and gifts were donated to allow Toyland to also help out with Christmas dinners by purchasing each family a local grocery store gift card.

Christmas With Cops

A project of the Kingfisher Police Department and its women’s auxiliary, Christmas with Cops shares the joy of giving with the younger family members.

The concept of CWC is to team a child from a disadvantaged family with a policeman and his spouse to shop for and wrap gifts for each member of the child’s family.

The event is intended to be a daylong celebration, starting with children riding in a patrol car caravan to do the shopping and then returning to the police station to wrap gifts amidst Christmas music and holiday snacks.

That’s how it worked last year, at least.

This year’s pandemic version involved kids and cops connecting via a video call, where kids shared their Christmas gift ideas for family members.

Policemen and their wives then acted as personal shoppers to fill the lists, then wrapped the gifts and delivered them to each household.

This year, 14 children participated in selecting gifts for their families.

And, as was the case last year, many of them had to be reminded that they could also choose gifts for themselves.

“That’s what’s been so humbling for us as police officers — to see how much joy these kids get from choosing gifts they know their family members will love,” Chief David Catron said. “Getting something for themselves is really not as their top priority.”

And, just like with Santa’s Toyland, all that joyful giving couldn’t happen without all the other joyful givers in the Kingfisher community who help make it happen, Catron said.

For more photos of this gear’s Christmas With Cops, see the video slideshow posted on the Kingfisher Police Department Facebook page.