The Elf Louise Christmas Project is dedicated to providing a little bit of joy to Bexar County's less fortunate children. Get into the spirit of Christmas! Join Elf Louise volunteers in spreading joy throughout San Antonio!

The project began in 1969 when it's founder, Louise Locker, was a student at Trinity University in San Antonio. She found that for many San Antonio families Christmas just did not exist. Louise began to look for a way to provide a few Christmas presents to some of these children. That first year, with the help of a friend, she collected gifts for children in 13 families.

In 1998 5,000 volunteers wrapped and delivered presents to over 32,000 children in 9,387 families.The Elf Louise Christmas Project is a 501 (C)(3) Non-profit organization staffed by all volunteers and funded by donation. 98 cents of each dollar donated goes directly to the purchase of toys, approximately 2% is used for telephone, postage, and insurance expenses.

Elf Louise relies on the help of donations from grass roots San Antonio, and corporations who want to share their blessing at Christmas. People also donate toys, but since we need over 60,000 gifts, we have to purchase many of them. Our current budget is over $300,000.

The Project operates out of donated space anywhere in the city that will have us and requires about 50,000 square feet. We also have a small office located at Montgomer Wards store at McCreless Mall at IH37S and Southcross Boulevard.

Elf Louise Mission Statement