The event, which was held at Hy-Vee and included a complimentary meal courtesy of the store, was originally scheduled for Thursday but was then pushed back a day due to the weather. The kids who made it Friday got a chance to sit down on Santa’s lap and tell him exactly what they wanted for Christmas, and Radio Z Sales Manager Maria Fragoso said it made her emotional to see the looks on their faces.

“It’s just because we see the need, the need to put a smile on those kids’ faces. Because each kid is going through something really hard,” she said. “It does tear you up, but it makes you really happy. I mean, some kids ask for the smallest stuff, so it makes you really happy to put a smile on their face.”

This was the second year Radio Z has put on such an event, and it grew exponentially from the first iteration, when they bought toys for 12 kids. As Fragoso noted, their requests are often incredibly simple: last year, one child simply wanted Cap’n Crunch cereal instead of the knockoff brand his grandmother usually bought.

“None of the kids asked for electronics. Either they wanted a coat, a pair of boots or shoes,” Fragoso said.

 Serenity Watkins, who attends Rogers Elementary School, speaks with Santa during an event held at the Marshalltown Hy-Vee and sponsored by Radio Z on Friday afternoon.

It’s also special for Fragoso and her team, which included General Manager Diana Lopez and DJ Pepe Guicho on hand Friday, to have built a business — the only Spanish language radio station in an area with an ever-growing Hispanic/Latino population — that has become successful enough to give back to the communities it serves over 12 years on the air. She said it was easy to get Hy-Vee onboard after taking the gifts to kids’ homes last year, and she can’t wait to do it again in 2023.

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Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.

Daymien and Raine Lethrop left their Santa visit with some big gifts to take home on Friday afternoon.