Anyone who still believes in Santa Claus – specifically, the rotund bearded guy at the North Pole – should not go past this first paragraph.

But if you believe every young child deserves at least a present or two under the tree Christmas morning, I strongly encourage you to keep reading, because in this Year of COVID-19 there are a whole lot of youngsters in our Aurora and Naperville communities who could be very disappointed, not to mention confused, that Santa, of all years, decided to bypass them.

Thousands, in fact.

It’s a disturbing number, especially to Salvation Army Aurora Corps Captains Joaquin and Gabriela Rangel, who are spending a lot of time these days in the former Aldi building on Galena Boulevard, where volunteers are collecting and sorting toys to be distributed next week to as many as 4,000 children in Aurora and Naperville.

Problem is, right now there are only enough gifts for about 1,500 kids, which makes the couple, who took over as leaders of the Aurora Salvation Army this summer, plenty concerned, but also determined to find ways to fill those shelves in the coming seven days.

That’s where you can help come to the rescue.

The pandemic, of course, has upended lots of holiday hopes. According to Gabriela Rangel, the group’s annual Angel Tree Program historically depends on generous donations from local businesses and companies big and small throughout the Fox Valley. But with so many people working from home, many traditional office toy drives just didn’t happen.

“That’s really where we are hurting right now,” she said.

Plus, I’m sure you don’t have to be reminded, a lot of people no longer even have jobs, which makes the need much greater this Christmas season.

With all the challenges that have been dumped on kids this year, the last thing they need to close out 2020 is Santa Claus somehow skipping over their house.

Of course meeting the wishes of kids these day would be an impossible task. Items like hero LEGOs, LOL dolls, Roblox games and Beyblade spinning tops are on lots of Santa Claus lists, noted Gabriela Rangel. And the Salvation Army wants to honor those requests as much as possible - again, with your help.

The organization is supplying clothes for kids, as well as gift cards for teens. “But all sorts of toys are desperately needed,” she said, “particularly for children ages 0-2 and ages 10-13.”

That isn’t to say the community has not already stepped up to the plate for families who are struggling.

“Overwhelmed” is the word used repeatedly by Deborah Rudel, who recently was named the new CEO of Fox Valley United Way, when I asked how this group’s Holiday Assistance Program was going.

The downtown storefront building used by the group this time of year is full of toys, refurbished bikes, baby items, house supplies and gift cards that will be distributed for three days beginning Dec. 17 in a carefully-orchestrated drive-by for 120 families that include 338 kids.

Some of those gifts are toys that got rerouted – thanks to pandemic closures and restrictions – from SciTech Hands On Museum’s gift shop and Rush Copley Medical Center’s Build-a-Bear closet.

The focus for the Holiday Assistance Program is not just on kids under age 5 but also on their families, who often are “desperate” - a word that gets used a lot these days - for everyday items such as cleaning supplies, toilet paper, bedding and even food.

Which is why “we were so thrilled,” said Rudel, to get an “out of the blue $10,000 donation from AAA” that provided among other things $50 grocery gift cards for every family.

“The community really did show up,” she said.

But now it’s time for an encore.

On Dec. 17, the Salvation Army also plans to distribute gifts. Which means the Aurora/Naperville community has one week to help fill those half-empty shelves, a situation, by the way, the Elgin Salvation Army is also facing, as its leaders recently put out a plea for 2,200 toys.

While I’ve got your attention, the Aurora organization also desperately needs bell ringers to help them meet its Red Kettle goal, a request I’m sure is nationwide in this current COVID crisis.

Collected locally so far, said Joaquin Rangel, is $65,000, which includes a gold coin dropped in the kettle outside Casey’s Foods in Naperville recently, worth $1,790.

But even that 1-ounce gold South African Krugerrand coin puts the Aurora Salvation Army far short of its $215,000 goal.

This year, in spite of the Salvation Army launching its “Rescue Christmas” campaign nearly two months early to meet these pandemic hurdles, targets everywhere are falling short. And it’s an especially difficult task trying to give children something at least close to what they have requested on their wish list.

Santa, after all, is equal in his love for all kids, right?

“We can’t give them all they want,” Gabriela admitted. “Hearts do get broken. But we try to avoid that if at all possible.”

dcrosby@tribpub.com