BRAZIL, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)– Hundreds of families made the trip to the Indiana Sheriff’s Youth Ranch on Saturday for their annual “Breakfast with Santa” event.
Children got to have a free meal, make a holiday ornament and got to meet Santa Claus before they left. Executive director for the ranch Scott Minier said he was blown away with the turnout.
“This is amazing. Today is amazing,” he said. “We bought out two groceries stores of all of the menu items. We’ve been making last minute runs to Walmart and Kroger to make up for this amazing crowd.”
Minier credited good relationships with school districts in Clay and surrounding counties, as well as the Sheriff’s Offices in those counties as well.
“Hundreds, literally hundreds of kids were fed this morning,” he said. “We have a really good working relationship with the schools here in Clay County and over in Vigo County, Vermillion, Putnam, Parke, all around.”
This was the final event of the year for the ranch. Minier said events throughout the fall are meant to work with younger kids, like the one today.
“We try to do offseason events like an Easter egg hunt or pumpkin painting, breakfast with Santa to give back to the community, to bond with the younger kids in particular, because our programming right now is geared more towards middle school and high school,” Minier said. “So this is a way for us to start reaching out to the younger kids and the younger families.”
Minier said the next big event will be the Easter egg hunt in the spring.