December 16, 1999 | Read Time: 1 minute
In 1902, Volunteers of America sent out its first Sidewalk Santas to walk through midtown Manhattan ringing bells, carrying miniature red-brick chimneys and asking pedestrians if they could spare a few coins to help feed hungry children.
Sidewalk Santas still parade the streets of New York, but these days they’ve also gone on line. Cyberspace “Sidewalk Santas” raise money for more than 160 Volunteers of America programs, which benefit needy people.
Through the Volunteers of America site, donors can use credit cards to make on-line gifts and can explore other features, such as an Advent calendar with riddles, puzzles, and a page where they can send e-mails to Santa. They can even attend “virtual Santa school.”
This is the third year for the Sidewalk Santa site, which is on line from November 24 until January 1. Volunteers of America does not have figures for how much the site has brought in, but it said that the site received 500,000 page views last year.
The charity is hoping to maintain momentum by providing a place on the site where donors can request an e-mail to inform them when next year’s Sidewalk Santa goes on line.
To get there: Go to http://www.sidewalksanta.org.
