Article by Lindsey Hedrick

Get your Christmas lists ready because Santa is stopping by the Commons this Saturday from 8-10 a.m. to join the Drury Ambassadors at their annual Breakfast with Santa.

Breakfast with Santa is an annual tradition hosted by The Office of University Advancement and Drury Alumni Council. The event will include a complimentary breakfast from Fresh Ideas, crafts and games.

Drury Ambassadors

Drury Ambassadors is one of Drury’s most honorable organizations. Only students with GPAs of 3.2 or higher are invited to apply to the organization. Students must then apply, be recommended by a faculty member and interview for a role in the organization.

Members act as liaisons between the alumni and Drury students. They also participate in numerous events throughout the year including commencement, alumni reunion weekend, Vespers and Breakfast with Santa.

As part of their continuous philanthropic efforts, Drury Ambassadors asks attendees to bring a nonperishable food item to the event. The collected food will be donated to Central High School Food Bank.

Event preparation

Kelsey Sinclair, senior and event chairman, put together this event with the help of the Breakfast with Santa committee, Assistant Director of Alumni Relations Kristin Turner and Director of Annual Giving Andrea Battaglia.

After months of preparation, Sinclair hopes the event is a success.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how the event comes together and seeing all the families at Breakfast with Santa” said Sinclair.

She also feels the event is something that everyone can take part in whether its building connections with alumni or simply decorating cookies with the community.

Turner has helped promote the event to local businesses within the community and has been a large role in obtaining sponsors.

“We have had several businesses come forward to help sponsor our event this year,” Turner said. “Our sponsors include Miller and Associates, Duckett Ladd, LLP, Kim’s Cookies, Ruby’s Market and Price Cutter.”

According to Turner, Ruby’s Market is supplying cookies for decorating and the other businesses are helping with different forms of sponsorship.

20th anniversary reflections

Turner and Battaglia have spent an exceptional amount of time helping put this event together, but are encouraged by past years’ attendance. Being the 20th anniversary of the event, they are especially delighted.

“Breakfast with Santa is celebrating its 20^th anniversary of the event and what an exciting hallmark celebration it will be,” Battaglia explained. “We continue to have incredible attendance at this annual event with the support from our student ambassador leadership and exceptional community and campus interest.”

Turner and Battaglia are also alumni of Drury and look forward to seeing familiar faces come back to campus for the festive holiday event.

“I am most looking forward to seeing some of the same faces from last year,” Turner explained. “I love hearing stories from the families about how they have been attending since their children were young and how much they look forward to it each year.”

Turner and Battaglia feel that Breakfast with Santa is important because it keeps the connection between the university and alumni strong.

“I hope that we can continue to expand attendance and encourage more alumni, community members, faculty, staff and friends of Drury to bring their families,” said Battaglia.

They feel that Breakfast with Santa will continue to be an annual event for years to come.