Their lists to Santa included an Easy-Bake oven, a football and the Littlest Pet Shop toys.
Hammond Elementary second-grader Sophia Biddle helped fulfill the wishes, telling her mother that buying and wrapping the gifts made her feel like one of Santa's elves.
Presents piled in 7-year-old Sophia's living room, stacked almost as tall as her, with tags signed "Secret Santa." She had started saving her allowance in October for Christmas gifts for her family, but her plans soon changed to involve seven children she had never met.
She had heard about children her mother, Kimberlee, worked with as a Title I teacher at Tarpon Springs Elementary. Title I, a federal program, serves children from low-income families, and Kimberlee Biddle knew several families who needed extra help at the holidays.
She selected a first-grader, two second-graders, three third-graders and a middle school sibling of one of the younger children, checked with their parents and added them to their Christmas list.
Sophia, meanwhile, sorted through her old toys and, with her mother's help, posted them on eBay to sell.
She raised $356.
With a list of needs and favorites from the children Biddle knew, Sophia and her mother hit Toys R Us and Walmart and started shopping. They brought home toys, sneakers and clothes. Once they wrapped everything, Biddle arranged with the children's parents a time to deliver the goodies to their homes.
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