Santa's Helpers, Inc.

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St. Louis, MO
Santa's Helpers, Inc.

Santa’s Helpers, Inc. is a 100% volunteer-based non-profit organization serving St. Louis’s under-resourced and seriously ill children since December 1968. Louis!

Our Motto: "So no child is without a gift this holiday season" Santa’s Helpers was started by Rita Swiener (now Executive Director) when she provided a family in need with holiday gifts. She was determined to make sure no child was without toys or necessities during the holiday season. What started with one family has turned into Santa’s Helpers delivering gifts to more than 31,000 families. Each

child gets 6 gifts including 3 books and an age appropriate educational toy. Toys are brand new and donated through yearly toy drives or purchased thanks to monetary donations from supporters. Santa’s Helpers serves families in St. Louis City, St. Louis County and the St. Louis Metropolitan area. Volunteers purchase, wrap and deliver new toys on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. They also do “Christmas in July” & bring toys & necessities to women & children living in homeless shelters & a women’s safe house. Santa’s Helpers serves more than 3,500 children & over 1,000 families every holiday season. Families are referred by Social Services, Schools, Parents as Teachers, Nurses for Newborns, Big Brothers-Big Sisters and other local organizations. Mayor Lyda Krewson proclaimed Oct 20th, 2019 as Santa’s Helpers Inc Day in the City of St. Warehouse Address: 1401 Pierce Ave, St. Louis, MO 63110

How Santa’s Helpers began:
It all started in the 1960s when Rita Swiener was the President of UMSL’s Student Evening Council. An adjunct professor asked if they could help give gifts to an under-resourced family that had “fallen through the cracks”. Rita agreed. That next year the council decided not to participate so Rita started helping them on her own. Rita is from Pittsburgh and she is Jewish. She can still remember Hanukkahs with no gifts. She knew she didn’t want any kids to ever have to go through that so she decided she would do whatever she needed to help others during the holidays. Rita heard of other families that needed help thanks to her friend Paul Civili who was teaching at Holy Trinity Catholic School in north St. Louis at the time. Paul still volunteers today! The group started in Rita’s living room and finally ended up in a warehouse space donated to them by Cee Kay Supply on Manchester Ave. in St. Louis. No one at Santa’s Helpers is paid, not even Rita. Volunteers collect new toys through toy drives and the rest of bought through sales and some hard core negotiation skills thanks to Rita and other volunteers. Rita is a fearless dedicated leader at Santa’s Helpers. She is a breast cancer survivor, heart attack survivor and one of the hardest working volunteers at the warehouse.

01/24/2026

Hats and gloves!! Hats and gloves!
Thousands of hats and gloves!!
All of our kids get hats and gloves!!

Stay warm out there in Santa’s Helpers land! ❄️❄️☃️☃️❄️

01/21/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16dEewrgcp/?mibextid=wwXIfr

We’re incredibly proud to share these thank you letters from Circle of Concern and Santa’s Helpers, two amazing organizations that benefited from the donations raised though 50/50, Chinese raffle, and other charitable contributions at our December Holidaze Party. Your generosity will help bring comfort, food, gifts, and hope to families in 2026..

This is exactly what it means to live our motto: Party With a Purpose! Thank you to everyone who donated, participated, and supported our Holidaze efforts.

01/08/2026

A huge thank you to Slagle Financial for the toy drive today. Santa’s Helpers is starting on the 2026 Holiday season.

01/02/2026

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
We wish all of our Santa’s Helpers family and friends the very best of everything in 2026!!

We look forward to continuing to help make Christmas brighter for “our kids”

12/27/2025

From picking up deliveries in the freezing January cold to the heat of summer then through the unpredictable Fall, Santa’s Helpers never stops. Thousands of gifts are separated and placed on the shelves to be wrapped. There are bags, bags and more bags filled and ready for pickup. Volunteers move about the warehouse doing anything and everything to make it all come together.

From Santa’s Helpers to all of our wonderful donors, thank you
From Santa’s Helpers to all of our amazing volunteers, thank you!

Without Rita Sweiner, there would be no Santa’s Helpers and without
Nancy Pinkston, the workshop wouldn’t work. You are both the heartbeat of Santa’s Helpers! ❤️

12/25/2025

Santa's Helpers volunteers did it again in 2025. We served 3436 children and 1475 adults and more than 1260 families. Thank you to the BEST volunteers, you are all awesome!

12/22/2025

Thank you for helping us make Christmas brighter for so many children!we can not do what we do without sponsors like you! 🎅🏼🎄🧑🏻‍🎄

Thank you so much to our amazing clients who generously donated to the Santa’s Helpers Toy Drive this year! Your kindness and support are deeply appreciated, and together we are spreading joy throughout our community this holiday season. ✨

Content found herein is for information purposes only and should not be considered investment, legal or tax advice. While content is believed to be from reliable sources, no guarantees are made by us regarding the accuracy or completeness of third-party information.

12/20/2025

Thank you St Louis Magazine for sponsoring this wonderful event!

On December 12, 2025, St. Louis Magazine hosted a holiday Family Playdate at Dave Sinclair Lincoln, bringing families together for a festive evening of seasonal fun. Guests enjoyed a variety of holiday activities including a hot chocolate and coffee bar, a DIY ornament craft station with KidzPlay ST...

12/17/2025

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

12/15/2025

Meet Brian!

Brian stopped by the warehouse today to deliver a cart full of toys! He asked his wife what she wanted and she told him “buy toys and bring them to Santa’s Helpers”!

Thought for the day. …. be like Brian! 😃

We are accepting donations at the warehouse from 10am -2pm. Amazon delivery is still available also.

Thank you, Brian!!

Address

5835 Manchester Avenue
St. Louis, MO
63110

Telephone

(314) 647-1800

Website

http://www.SantasHelpersSTL.com/

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