BERNARDSTON — A Greenfield native aims to bring some Christmas cheer year-round by collecting donations for a therapeutic riding program in Bernardston.

Jeffrey Gordon has recently been advertising his services as a professional Santa for family, business and town events anywhere in western Massachusetts this side of Worcester. All Gordon requires is a minimum $75 donation to Courageous Strides.

Since 2019, Courageous Strides has provided equine-assisted activities to military veterans and individuals recovering from emotional and physical trauma.

“We think veterans deserve something back, for those with PTSD, depression and loneliness,” Gordon said. “I can tell you that to some extent I had my own, because as a critical care nurse I saw a lot more than people would expect.”

Throughout his life, Gordon worked not only as a nurse, but also for Medtronic, a medical device company that specializes in diabetes care. Through these roles, Gordon realized how much he enjoyed helping people. In retirement, he devotes most of his time to raising money for the cause that he and his wife, Courageous Strides President Deb Gordon, are passionate about.

When asked what inspired him to embrace the Santa role, Jeffrey said it was actually his former job at Medtronic, where his coworkers coined Santa as his nickname.

“During COVID, our company did an awful lot of video chats, and so around Christmas 2020, I had a Christmas background and a Santa hat on, which led to a couple different people asking if I would do video chats with their children — and that was before I even bought a real Santa suit,” Gordon recounted, adding that, with his beard, he bears resemblance to the real deal.

Jeffrey’s favorite memory from playing Santa was when he visited Greenfield’s Pizazz Dance Studio and the turnout exceeded his expectations.

“You have to be quick on your feet because kids will ask you some interesting questions. One of the kids saw me get out of the car over by Walgreens, and he said, ‘I saw you get out of the car!’ And I said, ‘Well of course you did, there’s no place here to land my sleigh, so I landed over at the high school and this nice lady gave me a ride,’” Jeffrey recounted with a laugh.

At any given appointment, Jeffrey spends at least an hour with families telling Christmas stories, unwrapping gifts and putting a positive spin on chores that he’s been told the children don’t do at home.

“I’ll say, ‘You know, Santa sometimes forgets to put away his tools after he’s been building toys. Do any of you have trouble putting away your toys?’ And the kids will raise their hands, and I’ll say, ‘I’ll tell you what, how about together we work on that for next year,’” he said.

Behind Jeffrey’s motivation lies the legacy of his father, Ralph Gordon, who died in 2021. Before handling the court logs for the Greenfield Recorder, his hometown newspaper, Ralph worked for the Springfield Union-News for the vast majority of his career and was perhaps best known for his weekly column titled “Never a Bad Day,” where he tried to spread the philosophy that if you look for a bright moment in every day, you’ll never have a bad one.

Jeffrey also takes pride in remembering the elaborate Christmas displays he grew up making with his family, which only helped to inspire his cause.

“It’s just a thing that serves multiple purposes,” he said. “It puts smiles on people’s faces, spreads happiness, as well as raises money for a very good cause.”

Last year, Jeffrey raised $600 for Courageous Strides as Santa, with a new goal of $1,000 before the new year. The money goes toward giving scholarships to horseback riders from limited means.

“During the year, we do fundraising, which really helps offset our program expenses and our scholarship program,” Deb explained. “I’m really proud, we’ve had three veterans this year, with two having been funded 100% all season long thanks to the effort of our team and donors.”

Deb took over Courageous Strides, operated out of Stoney B Acres, in 2022 after getting certified as a therapeutic riding instructor in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Although Deb always loved riding, her passion for the program skyrocketed after her relationship with her horses helped improve the anxiety she developed after the death of her parents.

“Horses are very intuitive with our emotions,” Deb said. “They can actually hear our heartbeats from up to 8 feet away, even remembering faces, voices and scents.”

Courageous Strides Event Coordinator Lindsay McCarthy, who also has an extensive background in riding, mentioned the program has a waiting list, with the number of participants limited since Deb is the only instructor. The riding season goes from April to late October. The star horses of the program include Logan, Pete and Jackson.

Jeffrey and Deb are aiming to provide full scholarships for all of the program’s riders, with the experience of witnessing the riders accomplish their goals and gain confidence making their efforts all worth it. Deb recounted one of her favorite memories as an instructor, when she watched a rider, who had recently suffered a stroke, be able to ride independently again.

“Sometimes people, after experiencing trauma, store that inside for years, and whether it be from military veterans who saw combat, to people who have experienced severe traumas in their lives, sometimes they bury it and don’t talk about it,” Jeffrey said. “With the techniques used to bond horse and rider, those walls come down and finally they can let go of that emotional hurt that’s deep inside.”

With Santa inquiries, email santacauseforvets@gmail.com. For more information about the Courageous Strides program, visit courageous-strides.org.