The all-you-can-eat breakfast was sponsored by Walmart Distribution Center, St. Lucie Mets, Aramark and Treasure Coast Photography Center. Next year, the holiday event will return to First Data Field, which has been under construction.

 

This is the fourth consecutive year that Kevin Lake of Tampa has played Santa for the children of the Treasure Coast. This year, he brought a truckload of gifts from a toy drive organized by Tampa resident Gayle Duca for children associated with New Horizons.

 

That effort was combined with a donation of 46 bikes from Mitch Hall and his team at the Walmart Distribution Center in Fort Pierce, along with a donation totaling $5,000 to help with the expense of children’s mental health services across all four counties.

 

“It’s all about the children,” said Lake, who also donates funds to New Horizons from a nonprofit he started called Bella’s Wings, in memory of a young girl who lost her life to cancer.

 

“The stories I hear from the children break my heart and keep me coming back,” he said. “When I asked one little girl what she wanted for Christmas, she told me, ‘I want a nice family to adopt me.’”

 

Breakfast with Santa is a free event intended to help create wholesome memories that will last a lifetime.

 

In addition to card making, cookie decorating, delicious treats, and holiday trivia games, children of all ages receive photos of themselves with Santa and beside the Christmas tree taken by volunteers from the Treasure Coast Photography Center.

 

The photo club has purchased two mobile printers over the past four years to keep up with the number of guests attending the event each year.