NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — Santa made a stop at the Boys and Girls Club of the Virginia Peninsula for the Way of Hope, Inc., fifth annual Breakfast with Santa.

“This is the [highest] number of kids that we ever had, starting [in] 2019,” said Jason Smith, Way of Hope, Inc., COO. “We started with like 50 families. Five years later, we’re all the way up to 561.”

Years ago, Smith was featured in the Wednesday Child segment with longtime WAVY-TV 10’s anchor and reporter Don Roberts.

“I ended up meeting a lot of different people that were positive male role models in my life to help me be a better person,” Smith said. “My experience as a Wednesday’s child was phenomenal because they used to do something similar, they would take us places. Then, for Christmas, we would get all types of gifts [including] gift cards, bikes.”

Now that he’s older, he is giving back to kids yearly, including teenagers ages 13-17.

“This might be the only thing that they get,” Smith said. “My goal is to make sure I provide for them as well.”

Smith credits his mom, Roslyn Smith, for raising him as a single mom.

“[I’m just happy] to see the happy faces of all these kids that he’s helping,” Roslyn said. “They know that there’s somebody out here that cares about them. That’s important because people are so mean nowadays. When you find somebody that wants to help that just brightens up your day and makes you feel special.”