BRAZIL – Did Santa Claus help deliver Sunday’s Indianapolis Colts’ win over the New England Patriots?
Well, it’s what one young student attending the Indiana Sheriffs’ Youth Ranch “Breakfast With Santa” wanted in a letter he hand-delivered Saturday to old St. Nick.
“More than 100 K-6 students, parents, and grandparents attended the first-time holiday event hosted by sheriffs and deputies from across West Central Indiana,” said former Marion County Sheriff John Layton, ISYR founder, and board president.
Layton and his wife Laurie helped organize the event along with Clay County Sheriff Paul Harden, Greene County Sheriff Michael Hasler, Owen County Sheriff Sam Hobbs, Parke County Sheriff Justin Cole, Putnam County Sheriff Scott Stockton, Sullivan County Sheriff Clark Cottom, Vermillion County Sheriff Mike Phelps and Vigo County Sheriff John Plasse. Cass County Sheriff Ed Schroder and Sullivan County Chief Deputy Jason Bobbitt also helped welcome Youth Ranch visitors to the first-time Christmas event.
“Youth were invited with the help of area elementary schools, restaurants, laundromats, and food pantries,” Layton said. “No tax dollars were used for the event. Instead, donated ISYR Chaplain Funds were utilized to purchase materials for the kids to create keepsake wooden ornaments for home, write letters to Santa and enjoy a hearty breakfast – pancakes, sausage, cereal, milk, apple, and orange juice – before meeting Santa and Mrs. Claus and the world’s best elf.”
Layton said the ISYR Chaplain Fund also helps provide needed food, toiletries, and clothing for year-round visitors to the not-for-profit 62-acre training retreat for future law enforcement officers, at-risk kids, young witnesses, and victims of crime.
For more information, call 317-460-4242, write to the tax-deductible Chaplain’s Fund, Indiana Sheriffs’ Youth Ranch, 5325 N. State Road 59, Brazil, IN 47834, or email ScottMinier@yahoo.com.
