'Acacia Claus' benefits area youths

The men of Acacia sported Santa hats outside of local stores and collected donations in the form of holiday gifts for at-risk children in Monroe County this weekend.\nThe students' annual philanthropy, dubbed "Acacia Claus," resulted in about 30 shopping carts full of toys and presents to be donated to the Salvation Army. The gifts would then, in turn, be distributed to children in the area who might not otherwise receive such gifts during the holiday season, said sophomore Kyle Simcoe, Acacia assistant philanthropy chair. \n"It was a big success. We feel great about it," he said. "We had about 50 brothers out there, and for that many guys to be contributing on the weekend before finals is a big deal to us."\nThe philanthropic project took place both Saturday and Sunday for about 8 hours each day at Kmart and Wal-Mart. \nOn Saturday, junior Acacia member John-Francis Kraemer stood among his brothers near the entry doors of Kmart, behind him three shopping carts bursting with children's board games and dolls. \nHe said the event is meaningful to the fraternity and typically is successful.\n"It's a way for us to give back to the community and give thanks for the opportunities we have here," he said. "There are always lots of donations. It's a good way to end the year."\nSimcoe said as shoppers entered the stores they were informed of the project, given a candy cane and invited to participate by purchasing a toy. He said many were energetic about partaking in the collection.\n"Around Christmas people will look at how much they have and feel a need to give back," he said.\nSimcoe said in addition to donating numerous children's presents to the Salvation Army, the chapter is sponsoring a family it was put into contact with via a social worker. \nHe said the children of the chapter's sponsored family will be invited to the chapter house sometime this week and will get to choose their own toy and partake in milk and cookies. \n"It'll be really special for the whole house to see the look of joy on these kids' faces when they get to pick from two huge rooms full of toys," Simcoe said. "It's probably something they've never experienced \nbefore."\nThis is one of the biggest philanthropic projects in which Acacia participates, though others include a Waterball Challenge that benefits the Bloomington Fire Department and involvement in IU Dance Marathon, Simcoe said.\n"Our motto is human service, and we try to follow it," he said.