Sidewalk Santas prepare for holiday season

A nearly 110-year-old tradition to put holiday meals on the growing number of poor families' dinner tables will kick off the day after Thanksgiving when about 50 Santas will march up Fifth Avenue.

The marchers are Volunteers of America's Sidewalk Santas, who will begin jingling their Christmas bells on midtown street corners next week to raise money to feed poor people.

The Sidewalk Santas collect money in chimney boxes from passersby to fund the charity's Holiday Food Voucher program, which provides $25 food gift cards that can be used at local supermarkets.

"Families can buy their own food for their own traditional holiday meals, and prepare them with their family in the comfort of their own home," said Patrick Page, who plays the Green Goblin in "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" on Broadway.

Page was moonlighting this week, training and inspiring more than 25 volunteers who had donned their Santa Claus suits and beards and practiced their bell ringing and "Ho, Ho, Ho."

Lexi Davis, 58, of Brentwood, has been a Sidewalk Santa volunteer for 16 years. "This is my way of giving back. Sixteen years ago, I was homeless and living in a men's shelter," he said.

Today, "I am blessed," Davis said. "After work I go home to Brentwood, where it is quiet and where I live with my wife, our daughter and our four grandchildren." Davis works as a facility manager for the Volunteers of America.

Davis said the Fifth Avenue march is always "enlightening. Seeing the expression of joy on the children's faces -- their big smiles -- makes me feel really good."

Sabrina Brown, 47, of Queens, who also works for Volunteers of America as an office administrator, said this would be her first year to volunteer. "I have a lot to be thankful for and I want to give back."

Last year, the holiday food drive raised $40,000 and helped 1,600 people. This year, the organization hopes to raise $50,000 to $60,000.Rachel Weinstein, the group's vice president, said there were at least 3 million hungry New Yorkers, 8,000 homeless families, and 16,000 children living in city shelters.