JARRETT GOODMAN
Staff Writer
Arts in the Burg, South Pittsburg’s art gallery and studio, has once more been the sight of its third annual Santa Cause event.
Similar to last year’s event, the Santa Cause invites non-profit organizations and entrepreneurs from around the county to promote their services, as well as contributions, to the community. The brainchild of the event is Mandy Finotti, a board member for Arts in the Burg and former president of the Marion County Chamber of Commerce. Finotti first established the event in 2023 to help local organizations receive further outreach to the general public, promoting their services through public engagement within the community.
Finotti explained several new additions to the Santa Cause were introduced this year, one of which is the inclusion of a Stuff the Stocking challenge. The activity allows visitors to place donations within a set of stockings marked for each non-profit participating in the event, with guests free to donate as much as they please to any of the programs listed. Another inclusion was a collaborative activity with the Princess Theatre, which handed out prize tickets to the historic theatre to children who spoke to a least five different charities during the event.
“If they talk to a least five charities, they get to go see ‘The Polar Express’ for free next door,” said Finotti. “They also get popcorn, hot chocolate, and a bell from ‘The Polar Express’.”
Another addition to this year’s event was the introduction of a kick-off event held prior to the main Santa Cause. The kick-off event was held Saturday, Nov. 29, and included pictures with Santa, and introduced the Cause’s silent auction, which remained opened to the public throughout the week leading up to the Santa Cause.
“It was something that we thought, ‘you know we could do some mini events throughout.’ So we decided to test it with one this year and see how it went,” explained Finotti. “And it went great.”
Several non-profits, new and returning, participated in this year’s Santa Cause, ranging from CASA of the Sequatchie Valley and Champion Recovery Community, to the South Pittsburg Rotary Club and Marion Animal Resource Connection (MARC). Among one of the others who participated was Girls Inc. of Chattanooga, an organization dedicated to the education and empowerment of girls within both Marion and Hamilton Counties.
A recurring attendee to the event was Margaret Foster of Nurture the Next, an organization dedicated to supporting first time parents and their children. Foster explained that since participating in last year’s Santa Cause, the non-profit has merged with TN Voices, an additional Tennessee-based program that advocates mental health awareness and well-being for families across the state. The merging of both parties occurred in January earlier this year, with the two organization’s primary goals complimenting one another in their efforts to support children and families in need.
“We felt like a piece of a puzzle. Us doing mental health and development preeminently all the way to five, and then really picking up at five and going onwards, we complimented each other,” said Foster. “By putting the two organization’s together, it would make a larger and more powerful advocate for families.”
The ever-expanding Santa Cause event once again provided a large and successful turnout for everyone involved, allowing for more public engagement and awareness to local non-profits during the holiday season.