Santa Kelce: Chiefs’ Travis Kelce shops with YMCA kids at JCPenney holiday event
Travis Kelce crouched down next to one of 25 kids from the YMCA of Greater Kansas City and grabbed a Star Wars lightsaber off the shelf.
Then, there in the aisles of a JCPenney in Independence, the Chiefs tight end battled with the young boy.
“Sometimes you forget how to be a kid,” he said in between rounds of the battle, “until a kid gets you with a lightsaber.”
Kelce, who attended YMCA camps growing up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, surprised the group Monday night and helped them spend $100 JCPenney giftcards on Christmas presents for themselves and their families.
“Just the smiles that I saw on their faces when I walked in, that’s the coolest feeling in the world because I remember how I used to look at athletes and the impact I could have on them, the kind of impact they have on me,” he said. “It’s a really cool feeling just to be around the little ones around this time of holidays.
He picked out babydolls, tennis shoes and jeans, and signed t-shirts, blankets and christmas ornaments.
“I don’t know if I’m anything close to Santa,” he said, “but I help out when I can.”