Celebrating Santa Carl's 30+ Years

Recently, the Dallas community received BIG holiday news! Our good friends at NorthPark Center have shared that the beloved Santa Carl will be retiring from his post as NorthPark Santa after nearly 35 years of bringing joy and magic to the holiday season and to every child he met. That is especially true for the patients at Children’s Health℠.

Many years ago, the Women’s Auxiliary and Children’s Health launched a beautiful partnership with NorthPark Center to host Breakfast with Santa Spectacular featuring Santa Carl and during the pandemic, hosting virtual Santa visits raising significant funding for Children’s Health. Santa Carl spent hours with our patients and families who were not able to attend the events or visit Santa in person. Each year, he dedicated his time and talent to visit with our patients virtually in their hospital rooms or homes and connected with all of our patients and families through Santa Storytime readings at Children’s Health throughout the holiday season. The happiness he brought to everyone, especially our patient families, is immeasurable and everyone at Children’s Health will be forever grateful.

When asked about his experience when visiting with the patients and families at Children’s Health, Santa Carl responded:

“It was inspiring, exhilarating and fun to speak with these children, but it was also challenging at times. Afterward, I needed a certain amount of time to catch my breath. One of the things that makes me a good Santa is a great sense of empathy, and I deeply felt the heaviness of their situations. On the other hand, I was always struck by the bravery, faith and good cheer of those families.”

While saying goodbye to our dear friend is hard, we are also very excited to see what NorthPark is planning for the new Santa experience for the holidays! And, we are thrilled to announce that this year’s Women’s Auxiliary’s Breakfast with Santa Spectacular benefiting Children’s Health will take place in person on December 4, 2022 at 9:30 a.m. Save the date and join us back in person at NorthPark Center for a morning of family fun and lots of holiday magic!