Santa Claus is known for his generous gift giving, but this year it's Santa who will be receiving a gift -- a $2,000 donation to Operation Santa, Clackamas Fire's holiday food and toy drive. On Nov. 22 at 11:30 a.m., Happy Valley's Thanksgiving Shopping Challenge will conclude with the presentation of a check to Santa at Clackamas Fire District's Station 7.

On Nov. 16, first responders and local Happy Valley principals took part in the Thanksgiving Shopping Challenge, a race through the Happy Valley Fred Meyer in an effort to put together the best Thanksgiving meal in the name of charity. The contents of each cart was then auctioned off to the public. New resident Diana Helm offered the winning bid of $2,000 for the cart put together by the first responders, who chose to donate the collected fund to Operation Santa.

Operation Santa has been a part of Clackamas Fire District #1 since 1974. After recognizing the need to provide toys and food baskets to families in their community, firefighters established Operation Santa Claus. The project has grown to be a month-long holiday toy and food drive sponsored by the Clackamas Emergency Services Foundation.

Steve Hoffeditz, public information officer for Clackamas Fire District #1 said, "last year's Operation Santa collected nearly 42,000 pounds of food and over 7,000 toys to serve over 2,000 citizens."

A highlight of the Operation Santa program are the 15 community parades that are held throughout the service district. Volunteers and employees lead Santa's sleigh in parades down neighborhood streets to collect toys and non-perishable food items to fill hundreds of food baskets for families in need.

Santa and his team of Clackamas Fire firefighters are busily preparing for the first parade, which will be held on Friday, Nov. 24 at 6:00 p.m., and then nearly nightly after that through Dec. 10. The parades are held all over the county and those who want to see Santa and his CFD team are invited to visit http://www.clackamasfire.com/operation-santa-claus/ for a full schedule and parade routes.