Every year on the evening of Dec. 24, a jolly fat fellow is rumored to leave gifts under trees in homes across the United States. For some, gifts will not be given for religious reasons, but many others though simply cannot afford to buy gifts.

A program at Madison College called Santa’s Wish List, created 22 years ago, was established to ensure that parents attending the college  would have gifts to give their children in this gift-giving time of year.

Jessica Keophilavanh, the coordinator of Santa’s Wish List, said kids not receiving gifts this time of year will feel left out, and that has a deeply negative effect on their lives.

“It really psychologically does something to children,” Keophilavanh said. “I feel like every child should experience Christmas.”

Santa’s Wish List was created to help parents who are students at Madison College, to enable them to give gifts to their children during a time of the year when giving and receiving gifts seems crucial.

Last year, more than 200 kids received gifts through Santa’s Wish List. This year, Keophilavanh said she hopes Santa’s Wish List can give gifts to even more kids in need.

In order to make this possible, Santa’s Wish List reaches out to the community, faculty, students and previous donors for donations. With the all of the money that Santa’s Wish List raises, gifts are bought for the children of parents who are unable to provide gifts. Keeping the requests of the kids in mind, the money spent on each gift is capped at $25, but can be worth any amount below that as well.

Keophilavanh said she began volunteering for Santa’s Wish List because she knows from experience how hard it can be, especially as a young kid, to not have the money for things like Christmas presents.

“I grew up in the projects of Milwaukee. My parents did not speak English and didn’t have the education to get a decent job, or a job that paid well enough to put food on our table,” Keophilavanh said. “It was hard and it’s hard to see students, where they’re going to be if they don’t have help from people and if they don’t have that support and the ability to get the gifts that they can share with their other peers and not feel like an outcast.”

In hopes of giving many gifts this Christmas, Santa’s Wish List began fund-raising on Oct. 25 and donations will be collected until Nov. 25, just in time for the holiday.