Generous teen plays Santa for 2 families
Christmas came early for two Castle Shannon families thanks to an unlikely Santa Claus.
Sam Groesch is fortunate, and he knows it. Last fall, as a junior at Keystone Oaks High School, he looked around his well-appointed bedroom and noticed all of his extras: clothes with tags still fixed and board games still in cellophane. It got him thinking.
“Just knowing I have so much stuff that doesn’t get used, I was like, ‘What if I don’t get as much at Christmas and put it toward people who actually need it and will use it more?’”
Gathering money in lieu of extraneous presents from his parents, aunt and grandmother, he collected $400 last year. He shopped Black Friday sales and filled four bus seats full of toys at Robinson Town Center’s Stuffa-Bus event.
That was just the beginning. In mid-November, talks of a gift-giving reprise surfaced at the Groesches’ Castle Shannon home. Sam considered a food bank donation — hoping to raid the aisles of grocery stores and deliver the haul in person — but COVID-19 restrictions made that impossible. That’s when his mother, Danielle Groesch, suggested an alternate plan: Find a local family who otherwise wouldn’t be able to provide Christmas gifts for their children.
They enlisted the help of Myrtle Elementary School second-grade teacher Lauren Obringer, who taught Sam and currently teaches his younger brother, Jack. Two hardworking but hard-up families from the elementary school were identified. The families, who wish to remain anonymous, have five children between them, ages 18 months to 8 years old. They provided short wish lists — including toilet paper, cleaning supplies and paper towels — but weren’t prepared for what was delivered.
Like last year, Sam exchanged about half his Christmas gifts for cash donations from his parents, aunt and grandmother. This year’s donations well exceeded last year’s now that Mrs. Obringer, her mother and a coworker of Mrs. Groesch joined in the giving.
Sam split $750 between the two families, with $100 spent on each child and $125 on each set of parents. The lot
filled four garbage bags, two laundry baskets and a few stray boxes.
On the day Sam was to play Santa, his mom marveled at his great mood. He planned to wear a Santa hat but couldn’t find one. So, Santa made an appearance as a lanky 18-year-old with a 4.125 GPA and a fresh pair of Vans sneakers.
The event further cemented Sam’s desire to make children’s welfare his life’s work. He’s coached his younger brother’s soccer team for three years and is a member of Keystone Oaks’ Best Friends Club, which plans events for the school’s special needs community. He aspires to be an elementary or high school special education teacher and attend Duquesne University after two years of community college.
Plenty of change is on the
horizon for the charitable teen, but he has no intention of shelving this Christmas tradition. New donors have already voiced support for next year, which delights his original supporters.
“I’m just really proud of who he’s growing up to be,” said Mrs. Groesch. “He
makes me want to be better and do more and help more. To see how generous he is, how open his heart is to people, he’s lifting people up around him.”