Jewish ‘Santa’ Plays Role for Firefighters

When Arnie Cohen was stationed in the South Pacific during the Korean War, his Air Rescue unit commander tossed him a red suit, padding and a beard one Christmas and ordered him to distribute a load of C-rations to local children as a gift from Uncle Sam.

Why Cohen?

“I was the only one in my outfit who had nothing else to do,” he explains. “I’m Jewish.”

Nearly 30 years later, in 1983, Cohen was planning to attend his Northridge real estate brokerage firm’s annual Christmas dance when he experienced a flash of nostalgia.

Instead of simply showing up with the unwrapped toy for underprivileged children that served as an admission fee to the dance, Cohen decided he would dress as Santa and arrive via helicopter to impress his fellow employees.

He planned to then gather the donated toys and whisk them off in the helicopter to be distributed to a local charity. Only one problem. He didn’t have a helicopter at his disposal.

But the Los Angeles City Fire Department was willing to make a deal. The department was in search of a volunteer St. Nick to help distribute toys collected through its service club, SERTOMA. If Cohen was willing to serve as the club’s Santa, department members said, they would give him a ride to the company party.

Eleven years later, Cohen is still the Fire Department’s Santa. With his staff of SERTOMA helpers, he travels all over Los Angeles this time of year, distributing items such as basketballs, stuffed animals and Power Ranger figures to excited crowds of underprivileged kids and victims of holiday fires.

Last year alone, Cohen placed toys in the hands of more than 26,300 Los Angeles children.

“I enjoy doing this because I get to see the reaction of the kids’ faces when they are given something they would not otherwise receive,” said Cohen.

“When I put on that suit, nobody knows who I am. When kids come up to hug (Santa) and smile just because they believe, that’s what this holiday is all about, if people would just remember it.”

Citing visits to a cancer ward one year and the distribution of new headset equipment to spina bifida patients during another Christmas as his most significant Santa moments, Cohen said that “the high” he experiences when making a positive difference in children’s lives is what has kept him going all these years.

“I’ve been very lucky,” he said, “I just want to give some of that back.”

According to Steve Hofbauer, staff assistant to the toy distribution program, that “high” is what motivates everyone as the staff scrambles to meet the increasing demand for toys caused by more organizations finding out about SERTOMA.

“Some firefighters don’t realize how intense the experience is until they take part in the program,” Hofbauer said.