Lucy Houlihan, 3, a patient at St. Jude Midwest Affiliate Clinic of Peoria poses with Santa Claus Dec. 20. Lucy was among 94 patients who received a wagon load of presents given by a handful of generous donors.(Photo by Holly Eitenmiller / for Chronicle Media)

When Ken White was asked to play Santa for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Midwest Affiliate, he donned his red cap, suit, beard and boots and marched merrily on his way to the hospital that Christmas. He and his wife, Debbie, have followed suit for 18 years.

On Dec. 20, and again later that week, Ken’s lap was host to nearly 100 patients at the Jim and Trudy Maloof St. Jude Midwest Affiliate Clinic at OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria.

“We just love it, coming here,” Debbie White said. “We love to see these kids smile and enjoy the holidays. And there are so many donors and volunteers that make that happen.”

Caterpillar Inc. volunteers Kevin Bernovich and Doug Wake, loaded red plastic wagons from a room brimming with hundreds of toys, all donated by a very small list of extraordinarily generous donors.

Donors were provided a list of all current St. Jude patients, including their names, ages and gender. The tally, 94 patients in all

St. Jude now accepts young adults whose conditions are best treated at St. Jude. The gifts were new and nine donors, seven of whom were individuals and their families, purchased numerous gifts for each patient.

The result was wagonloads of Christmas toys and gifts for each child, all picked just for them.

Sage Degan, 5, was first to arrive at the clinic Tuesday morning, and was not in good spirits. In remission from Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, ALL, she was first diagnosed in Aug. 2014 when she was a toddler.

Caterpillar Inc. volunteers Kevin Bernovich and Doug Wake load a wagon with gifts donated to the children of The Jim and Trudy Maloof St. Jude Midwest Affiliate Clinic of Peoria on Tuesday, Dec. 20. (Photo by Holly Eitenmiller / for Chronicle Media)

Wearing boots and a set of My Pretty Pony pajamas, she clung to her mother, Alyssa, and cried until she was consoled enough to sit by Santa. On her mother’s lap, she opened dolls and toys and Play Doh. Soon she was cheerful again, thanks to some cajoling from St. Nick.

“We try to make life as easy as we can for these kiddos,” Allison West, OSF certified child life specialist, said. It’s West’s job to ease the traumas of cancer treatment for the St. Jude kids.

“I distract them while they’re getting IV’s and other things that scare them,” she said. Sedation particularly frightens them, she said, but it’s a necessary evil for procedures like Lombard Punctures, a form of collecting fluid surrounding the brain and spine.

“I educate them, too, about what’s going on in their bodies and how it’s affecting them, like hair loss,” West said. “We connect with the kids, especially teens. They’re in a pediatric facility, and they can feel so alone there.”

Lucy Houlihan, 3, a patient at the Jim and Trudy Maloof St. Jude Midwest Affiliate Clinic of Peoria, sits on Santa’s lap with baby sister, Charlotte, as their proud father Rich snaps a photo. (Photo by Holly Eitenmiller / for Chronicle Media)

Personally influenced by childhood cancer, photography Amanda Atkinson was on hand to take photos of the kids with Santa. Her work was donated and is part of her venture, “The ‘Sammy’ Project”, in honor of her nephew Sammy, 7, who is battling T-Cell Leukemia.

Atkinson said her nephew, diagnosed two years ago, suffered a massive lung infection on the path to recovery and was slipped into a medically-induced coma.

“He was in a coma for six weeks. He had to learn to walk again afterward,” Atkinson said. “Now he’s dancing. What they did here, how they helped him, is nothing short of a miracle.”

Sammy is in remission now. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital was first opened its doors in Memphis, Tenn.  on Feb. 4, 1962 by actor Danny Thomas. In the more than 50 years since then, the rate of survival for childhood cancers has increased from 20 percent to more than 80 percent.

Cancer patient, Sage Degan is cheered by Santa Tuesday at St. Jude Midwest Affiliate of Peoria. Sage,5, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, ALL, in 2014 and is now in remission. St. Jude Certified Child Life Specialist, Allison West, looks on.

For more information on making a difference in the lives of these children by donation or volunteerism, visit www.stjude.org/treatment/affiliate-clinics/peoria-illinois.html or call Donor Services at (800) 822-6344.

— Volunteers give St. Jude patients and families Christmas cheer —