TORONTO -- Andrea Falcone has a new book to read to her children this holiday season, and it’s one that she wrote and published herself.
“It’s just a light story about how this year’s different, and about how Santa also had to adapt to some new rules,” she told CTV News Toronto.
“But, that we can still kind of recognize what’s in and around our own homes and we really do have everything we need.”
The Mississauga woman was inspired by virtual gatherings with family and friends, along with porch gift drop-offs that have been happening.
She said she wanted to share a story about how, just like us, Santa and his elves are having to get creative this year to keep everyone safe.
“As I got writing and kind of reflecting on this year, I realized the holidays can still really be about what the holidays are supposed to be about,” Falcone explained.
‘Santa’s Creative Delivery: A 2020 Christmas Story’ was soon created. Falcone called upon a friend, Lotus Menezes, who helped with the illustrations.
“I thought it was an excellent message,” Menezes told CTV News Toronto. “The fact that elves were sanitizing and keeping a distance, and Santa coming, but not coming into the house, is kind of how we’re living right now.”
Together, Falcone and Menezes decided that all proceeds from the book would go to food banks in Peel Region. As a nutritionist herself, Falcone says it’s a cause close to her heart.
“We hear all the time about the dire need for the foodbanks, and we’ve heard the exponential rates of foodbank use just over the course of COVID-19 being here,” she said.
“I’m very fortunate to be able to have food on my table and I just want to be able to give this way.”
A story about Christmas in 2020 that Falcone and Menezes say serves as a reminder that the holiday will not always be this way.
“It’s a message of hope,” Menezes adds. “And, creativity.”
