Santa Claus is coming to Grundy County

Santa Claus is Coming to Morris is back for 2023, having grown into a 501(c)-3 large enough that it changed its name to Santa Claus is Coming to Grundy County.

Dave Di Vincenzo said Santa Claus founded the event, which returns this year rebranded because of its growth. This year’s event takes place from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 16 at First Christian Church, 455. W. Southmor Rd., Morris.

“This has become a yearly Christmas event and is our county’s biggest and best Santa event,” Di Vincenzo said. “Families from DuPage, Grundy, Kendall, La Salle and Will counties attend this event. Our number one goal for this event is to show children they can go to any first responder for any reason and not be afraid.”

Di Vincenzo said this year’s event is partnering with the Community Foundation of Grundy county, with which it will work to award scholarships to future first responders.

The requirements for these scholarships will be that the student has graduated from a high school in Grundy County, and that they have at least 30 hours into their degree or certificate that goes toward their training in law enforcement, fire science, emergency management or nursing.

“The goal is to set up an annual program so students can receive help with their goal of becoming a first responder,” Di Vincenzo said.

Fundraising for the event kicks off with a Santa raffling off a Sony Playstation 5 console, God of War: Ragnarök bundle. The entirety of the raffle ticket purchase will go toward providing financial assistance to as many students as possible. Each raffle ticket is $10, and can be purchased at https://rafflecreator.com/pages/38061/santas-future-1st-responder-scholarship-raffle.

The application to apply for the scholarship is available at https://cfgrundycounty.com/scholarship-application-santa-claus-is-coming-to-morris-scholarship-for-first-responders/. Applicants will be accepted until Thursday, Nov. 30.

Santa Claus is Coming to Morris started in 2017 and has always made an effort to give back. Proceeds from its first year were donated to a no-kill animal shelter, and in the years since it’s raised money for Morris Lions Club, Special Connections of Grundy County, and a family that lost everything to a fire.