For 2020, the Magic of Christmas is adjusting our process for bus volunteers (including Santa, CEO and elves) to ensure the families we visit and all our volunteers remain safe. We’re following all AHS (Alberta Health Services) protocols and requiring our volunteers to adhere to these policies.

COVID Protocols:

  • We will NOT be entering houses! All visits will be taking place outside, and no physical contact should be made between Santa/Elves and recipients
  • All family’s gifts will be pre picked
    • A red Santa sack will be filled with gifts for each individual and labeled with the name and the visit number of the recipient
    • Buses will have fewer elves – groups will not be mixed on a bus – all volunteers in the group (Santa, CEO and Elves) must be from the same group.
  • No Costume try ons – CEO will be responsible to pickup costumes for everyone on their bus
    • For previous volunteers we will try to assign the same costume from previous years
    • Some elves may only have hats and vests
  • Warehouse sorting will be prescheduled
    • For anyone coming into the warehouse to help sort/pick, it must be predetermined/signed up for online
    • Donations at the front of the warehouse are still welcome

NO ‘Elfings”

  • In past years, we would do some “Drive By Elfings” where we could hand gifts to random strangers to help elevate their spirits. This year we cannot give gifts to anyone not on our list, including neighbours of your visits. We cannot risk any contact to anybody that is not on our list.
  • We are still welcome to smile, wave, sing, cheer and bring Christmas spirit! It just has to be done from a distance.

Pre-departure for Elves:

  • You will be asked to stay in your vehicle until your bus is close to departure
  • CEO’s will need to call/check in when they arrive close to the warehouse to let us know who is present (are we missing Elves or Santa)
  • When called to come into the warehouse Volunteers will:
    • Wear a mask at all times
    • Sanitize their hands
    • Be checked in against our list
    • Have their temperature scanned and complete a COVID screening questionnaire confirming that they have no COVID symptoms and no close contacts with someone who has tested positive. (Anyone who fails the screening, and those in same cohort will not be able to volunteer.)
    • Volunteers will then be directed to a safe, distanced space to wait to board the bus
  • CEO’s will:
    • collect their CEO book, and receive any last-minute updates/changes
    • connect with their bus driver to share the area they’ll be working in

On the Bus:

  • Everyone MUST wear masks at ALL times while on the bus
  • Hand sanitizer will be provided on the bus. Elves should sanitize their hands every time they return to the bus and after handling packages.
  • Keep your bus driver stay safe, by staying distanced

How will visits work this year?

  • Absolutely NO ONE will enter any house. There is no choice, we MUST stay outside in order to ensure the safety of all our volunteers and families
  • Santa and elves will put gifts in front of the house (on door step, for example) near the door, then ring the doorbell.
  • Everyone must then step back from the door at least 2 metres before the family answers the door
    • For apartments, we’ll ask the families to come to the lobby to see Santa and the elves and bring their gifts back to their apartments themselves
  • Santa and Elves should sing, smile, and wave – anything they can to spread cheer!
  • Santa may talk to all recipients, be photographed (or any other activities requested) at a distance

What do we do if a family is not home?

  • There will be “Sorry we missed you” door knockers available to attach to the door of the home.
  • We CANNOT leave donations with neighbours under any circumstances, no matter how much they promise to pass the gifts along later.

Returning to the warehouse

  • Everyone needs to help unload the bus after their shift. The more helping hands the quicker it goes!
  • After emptying the bus, please wipe down all touch surfaces to make it clean for the next group.
  • If you are planning on taking a group photo at the end of your shift, please do this as quickly as possible once the bus has unloaded, as there are other elves waiting for your bus.
  • Once the Elves and Santas return their costumes to the Costume Room, they should exit the building
  • The CEO will return their CEO Binder and visit recorder book then should exit the warehouse to help limit the number of people in the building.

THANK YOU FOR VOLUNTEERING!!