Thousands of needy families get Sinterklaas gifts

Over four thousand needy children who would have otherwise gotten no gifts this winter holiday, received gifts from the Sinterklaasbank this week. Elisa Nuij, founder of the Sinterklaasbank, says the amount of families who needed the help of her organization this year has grown considerably, up from 2500 children last year, and 1500 the year before.

Despite the fact that the Sinterklaasbank is a great deal of work on top of Nuij's regular day job, and she had no intention of expanding the bank this year, she told Metro. But despite the long hours, she finds the experience so rewarding she can't say no to the work.

"No child deserves to believe that, regardless of how loved they are, Sinterklaas has no gift to reward their good behaviour," she said. The absence of a birthday present is still easy to explain, but how do you tell a child that Sinterklaas, who is depicted on television to have a warehouse full of presents, has nothing to give to them?"

Each child finally gets a gift of about 30 euros, that he has chosen from the directory," she said. The gifts are purchased by Sinterklaasbank thanks to donations."

She works with food banks, social workers and debt agencies to determine which families are eligible to participate. "I want to make sure that these gifts will go to children who really couldn't get a gift from Sinterklaas without the Sinterklaas Bank," she said.