(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)
West Seattle holiday spirit spread 12 miles south to Tukwila early this morning, as the Rotary Club of West Seattle led a sleighful of volunteers at its annual Children’s Holiday Shopping Spree.
After the SODO Sears closed almost five years ago, the Rotary moved the event to Southcenter, where buses brought about 100 students from five West Seattle schools starting just before 7 am – Highland Park, Arbor Heights, Sanislo, and West Seattle Elementaries, and Louisa Boren STEM K-8.
Each arriving group got an ovation from the nearly 200 Rotarians and other volunteers who started their Saturday pre-dawn to provide the kids a holiday event to remember.
First school arrival at West Seattle Rotary Shopping Spree – big cheers for Highland Park Elementary! pic.twitter.com/TXiTas1xpc
— West Seattle Blog (@westseattleblog) December 1, 2018
The kids get to shop for practical presents like coats and shoes:
They received fun gifts too – Rotarians donated small toys for goodie bags, for example. And a hearty breakfast is always part of the “spree”:
The West Seattle Rotary has been doing this for more than 45 years. Every year, volunteers from other organizations help make it happen, from student groups to community fraternities and sororities:
Lots of logistics involved – this year’s Rotary ringleader was Gary Potter of Potter Construction (WSB sponsor):
The Shopping Spree is one of several community projects every year for the club, which has lunch meetings every Tuesday and welcomes visitors.
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