A Knee for the Neediest

The very first time Bill Dieterle donned a Santa Claus suit, he was helping his father-in-law, a Santa-for-hire at a local garden center outside of Cleveland, who had asked Mr. Dieterle to fill in for him.

While in costume, he was approached by a young cancer patient who asked “Santa” to make his mother happy again.

“I thought, How do you make the mother of a dying child happy?” Mr. Dieterle says. It’s a challenge he’s tackled since that day in 1981. He has played Santa to tens of thousands of dying children, visiting them at hospitals and clinics and in their homes.

He and his wife, Janet, also started a charity, Santa’s Hide-A-Way Hollow, and, with support from local corporations and individuals, built a workshop on their property in Bainbridge Township in Ohio, where sick children can come and call upon Saint Nick at any time of year. The house is chock full of Christmas spirit, from the 12- foot tree festooned with glittering ornaments, train sets, and teddy bears in the living room to the kitchen, where children can decorate Christmas cookies.

“We make memories,” he says. “We make happy moments for these children and their families.”

Each year has brought new enhancements to the hollow, which now includes barns that house reindeer and horses, plus a fleet of shiny vehicles: three sleighs, two restored antique fire trucks, an ambulance, and a train that shuttles children around the property.

The charity operates on $56,000 a year, though neither Mr. Dieterle nor the dozens of volunteers who bring the hollow to life as elves and other helpers are paid. About 65 per cent of the budget comes from corporate and individual donations, and the rest from Mr. Dieterle and other volunteers.