On a cold December night, the inside of the St. Marks Lutheran Church in Aurora was filled with warmth thanks to Santa Claus and a group of excited youngsters.
Santa and Mrs. Claus both made an appearance for more than a dozen families with deaf and hard-of-hearing children. To their surprise, Santa knew their language, and used American Sign Language to learn each child's wish this holiday season.
"It's nice because we could take her to see a mall Santa and she’d have to talk through an interpreter, but here she can talk directly to him which is fantastic," said Kim Cancio, who brought her 5-year-old daughter Kimberly. "It’s a great opportunity for her to see other kids that are like her. It’s a great opportunity for us to be around other families who have kids who are deaf and hard of hearing also."
Kimberly told Santa she wanted candy, makeup and a blue toy horse.
For the past 16 years, the Aurora Lions Club have hosted the event for area families.
"It's good for them to be together and know there's other people like them," said Susan Koepke, co president of the Aurora Lions Club along side Randy Brown.
"It fills my heart," said Lions Club member and East Aurora hearing itinerate Carrie Snyder. "It's a community within a community... The students who often times may be the only one in their school with a hearing loss, with hearing aids or a sign interpreter, they're able to meet other students that also sign."
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Aurora Lions partnered with Sycamore-based Northeastern Illinois Association, a regional special-education cooperative that serves children with autism, hearing impairment and vision impairment from 10 northern Illinois counties.
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