Man delivers hope to Federal Way and beyond as Santa Claus

Published 2:17 pm Wednesday, December 23, 2015

For 39 years, Jerry Galland has enjoyed a successful career at Boeing as part of the aerospace company’s facilities and support services group.

But for the past five years, Galland has found his true calling as Santa Claus — making an appearance at dozens of Christmas events and volunteering for nonprofits like the Forgotten Children Fund.

“I don’t like to shave,” Galland said. “By not shaving, I grow something in the form of a beard. About five to six years ago, I started letting it grow out near Christmas time and I liked being called Santa Claus.”

Galland started out performing as Santa Claus at private parties. And then three years ago, he met a professional Santa and learned how there were a whole world of Santas out there.

“I was asked to be part of a club. I learned there was a Santa College,” Galland said, adding that he’s attended it twice. “I was afraid of being paid to be Santa. I was afraid I wouldn’t be accepted as Santa Claus. Over several months, I was immersed with other Santas. And I got my confidence.”

Galland admits that, at first, he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to handle a situation where a child would ask him to fulfill an impossible request. How would he respond to that, he wondered.

“I kept delaying, because I wondered if I was ready to answer those questions,” he said. “The one question you may get is, ‘Hey, mom is in the Air Force. Will she be home for Christmas?’ The right answer to that question is, ‘We can’t promise that (she will be home) but remember that your mom always loves you and would be here if she could.’ We’re giving them some reassurance that mom is doing what she needs to do and giving hope that she might be here for Christmas.”

Fortunately, Galland said he hasn’t been faced with an impossible request.

He does recall one near-impossible request a couple years ago when he visited a tree farm in Olympia as Santa Claus.

One teenage girl who was with a family came to him and told him that she knew he wasn’t the real Santa but that she wished she could be placed in a foster home in Shelton. She said the two foster homes in Shelton were filled.

“I asked, ‘Can I pray that you get into a home in Shelton? Would you like that?’ She said yes and then she disappeared in the gift shop,” Galland said. “I had to make an assessment: Was she running from something or running to something? My conclusion was she was not unhappy being in foster care but wanted to be in a foster home with her friend.”

The following Christmas, an older woman came up to Galland and asked if he was the same Santa from the year before.

“She had one message: The girl had been adopted and she was living in Shelton,” Galland said. “The reason for that story is we hear things that we may not have any control over; we have the opportunity to give someone hope.”

Galland appears as Santa Claus at nearly 30 events during the holiday season.

Half those, he said, are volunteer. This year he is volunteering on three occasions at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. On Dec. 11, he volunteered for KIRO TV’s Toy for Tots and on Dec. 20 he visited with children and families on the train at Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad and Museum in Elbe, Washington.

For the past two years, Galland said he has had the pleasure of volunteering as Santa for the nonprofit Forgotten Children Fund. He considers this his signature event.

Galland is one of anywhere from 30 to 40 Santas who, with about 400 elves, help to deliver gifts and food to needy children and families on Christmas Eve day.

Galland alone has visited with eight to 12 families in each of the past two years. All the Santas and elves help about 2,000 children each year in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties.

“I enjoy bringing some joy to these folks; some of the homes we go into there is no tree,” Galland said. “The only hope that they have for Christmas is for us to show up. These children are going to have one day as a break from their other worries and parents are going to have food.”

Galland is serious about being Santa. He is a member of the International Brotherhood of Real Bearded Santas.

He is also a board member of NORPAC, a professional Santa Claus organization open to all jolly people committed to spreading Christmas cheer and the magic of Santa throughout the Pacific Northwest.

He’s been to many Santa conferences, including one he will attend this July in Branson, Missouri, where 2,000 Santas are expected.

All year round, Galland takes an oath of being good and pure, which includes not drinking alcohol in public. Every single member of NORPAC has a national background check.

“I want to be the best Santa possible,” Galland said. “Everyone on NORPAC has that same goal. We believe we are a special group of people that have been chosen to deliver a message. Having that white beard and wearing red delivers hope and something positive.”