TAPS Santa visits Yukon-area kids, communities
Recently, Alyeska employees Tim Smith, Material Coordinator, and Jeannette Stepovich, Campaign Maintenance Supervisor, dressed up as Santa and an elf to deliver the many gifts donated by TAPS employees. Students in Rampart and Stevens Village received bags of gifts along with fresh produce and homemade desserts from staff at the Yukon Response Base.
Jeannette expanded on everyone involved with this annual effort.
“So many people help out with the gift drive this year. We saw an expansion of donations from employees from Anchorage, and continued support from the Yukon Response Base (YRB) and Fairbanks. It takes a lot of volunteers to donate, shop and wrap presents. Security helps us coordinate a good drop-off date and our friends at Maritime make sure we get to Rampart safely.”
Each year, Ramy Brooks, Civil Maintenance Coordinator, Jeannette and Tim work to campaign for donations and coordinate between each village. This year, Melinda Andon, O&M Coordinator, jumped in on planning activities.
The partnerships between Alyeska, Rampart and Stevens Village have existed since 1995, and several team members have celebrated milestones of 20-25 years of exercises, drills and response efforts.
Check out this video to see Santa and friends’ preparation, helicopter ride, and distribution of gifts in Rampart this holiday season.