A Little About Santa Greg and “Christmas In July Charity”

How It all started:

Greg Cemke is the founder of The Christmas In July Charity here in Central Wisconsin. Here is his story:

Greg had a slim chance of surviving a near fatal ATV accident, he was given a second chance at life. That accident was not only the worst thing that has ever happened to him, but also the best thing. It changed his life to the point that He wanted to give back to the community! 

“Deep within me, I always had a desire to help children in need, and that became my focus. After my recovery, I ran in the WI Warrior Dash (5k run with obstacles) and raised money for the St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital helping children fighting their battle with cancer. I am not able to run in the Warrior Dash any longer but still wanted to continue to support St Jude’s. I wanted to broaden my scope to help more children in our local community.”  - Greg Cemke

He reached out to the Marshfield Children’s Hospital to inquire about their needs and explained what the “CHRISTMAS IN JULY” event idea could be. They loved the idea which resulted in the beginning of the “Christmas In July Charity”. 

The Charity has grown a lot over the last 8 years. Greg has put over 8,500 volunteer hours into the charity and the Charity has raised over $300,000! He has been a guest speaker at Optimist, Be Amazing, Lions, Kiwanis, Eagles, Rotary, Knights of Columbus, Elks clubs and many local businesses. He explains the Charity and its impact on the community and how they can support it. 

2023 update! Santa Greg has been awarded the January 2023 Jefferson Award!

Congratulations Greg! You are a true leader and driving force of Christmas In July Charity!

Toy Collection:

The main goal of the charity is to help bring smiles and comfort to children and families that have to endure hospitalizations/medical treatment.

Being in the hospital is scary for anyone, but it is extremely stressful for children and their parents. The Marshfield hospital sees around 9,500 patients per year. 

Our Charity organizations a toy drive twice a year for children ages 0-18. One toy drive is the fall for Christmas time and the other is for the July Christmas In July event.

In the past 8 years we have been able to collect over 30,000 toys for the Children's hospital!!

The toys are used throughout the year for patient birthdays, end of treatment parties, holidays and of course the Christmas In July Event.

The donated gifts also help restock the hospital’s activity areas, as well as our treasure chests that patients can visit after an invasive procedure.

Visit our Amazon Wish list to donate a toy to the children right from the comfort of your own home!

The Ride:

Since Santa's sleigh will not work without snow in the July heat, He shows up on a motorcycle! A large group of bikes and vehicles make the trip from Bull Falls Harley-Davidson®of Wausau to Marshfield Children's Hospital.

The children and families can feel the rumble of the bikes coming from blocks away in anticipation for Santa’s visit! Once everyone has arrived at the hospital, the toys are all brought in and patients and siblings get to pick out presents. 

Our 2022 event some of the patients were able to join us outside, Because of Covid we were not able to go into the hospital.

Here is a clip on the 2020 event:

All year long the charity collects toys for the children, as well as procures monetary funding for special gifts that have been purchased for Child Life Specialists at the hospital to help decrease the stress and anxiety of children in the hospital. 

If you have an hour to spare, Contact Us for more information on our charity and the ways you could help bring a smile to a local child in the hospital!

Fundraising:

Not only does Santa collect and donate toys, but he also works around the clock throughout the year to raise money to purchase innovative items that are not included in our Child Life budget at the Marshfield Children's hospital. Over the past 8 years the Charity has raised over $300,000! in funds! The Child Life Department has been able to purchase numerous teaching dolls, VR Goggles, Touch2Play, and electronic games for waiting areas that allow patients and families to play games while they wait. 

For 2023 Christmas In July Charity is raising funds for the for a facility dog for the Marshfield Children’s Hospital!

Facility dogs are an intentional part of treatment, utilized for therapeutic bedsides, bereavement situations, procedures, etc. Specifically, facility dogs can be used in the following ways:

• Distractions: The facility dog will aid in distracting patients and providing comfort positioning during MRI scans, IV starts, SANE exams, catheters, and more.

• Preparations: The facility dog will be used to demonstrate what patients will experience during scans or other scary situations.

• Medical play: Patients can listen to the facility dog's heart, place an "IV" in the dog's paw, etc. to help them better understand procedures.

• Motivation: Staff can use the facility dog to motivate rehab patients to "walk the dog" or walk to the dog.