AKNG brings Christmas cheer to Yakutat
Santa Claus rides inside an Alaska Army National Guard Humvee before meeting local children and community members during Operation Santa Claus in Yakutat, Alaska, Dec. 18, 2024. Started in 1956, Operation Santa Claus is an annual AKNG and Salvation Army partnered community outreach program that spreads holiday cheer to rural Alaskan communities. Every Christmas, numerous civilian and miliary volunteers work to provide backpacks filled with toys and books to children that live in these remote Alaskan communities. (Alaska National Guard photo by Alejandro Peña)