It’s often said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Then there are those times that so is a look — especially when it comes from a child. 

For nearly a decade the employees of the city of Sedona have taken part in Sub For Santa, a voluntary program in which gifts and money are donated and given to a family in the community. They did the same thing this year but with a bit of a twist. They chose to help one of their own. 

Jason Mudge started with the city nearly two years ago as a part-time traffic control assistant and in August came on full-time as one of the city’s new custodians. He continues to work both positions for the city. Mudge’s wife, Kristen, has been battling medical issues for over three years. The couple has their hands full at home with four boys ages 10, 8, 6 and 2 — Wyatt, Gabe, Judah and Harrison. 

Staff members, including Dawn Norman and Joanne Cook, along with Santa Claus, greeted Mudge and his three oldest boys at the Sedona Posse Grounds Hub on Wednesday, Dec. 18, with gifts for the entire family. 

“From the results of what we received, our team is the most generous team I have ever worked with,” Norman said. “It was very humbling and awesome. Employees who have been here for a while are anxious to take part and early on started asking us when this was going to take place. Talk about a team pulling through.” 

As for how Mudge was chosen, Cook said through conversations she realized there was a need there. 

“We asked him if he was willing to participate in the program and he was very willing to do so,” she said. 

As the boys sifted through the stack of gifts, searching for their names, their eyes widened and excitement increased.

“I’m delighted — just blown away,” Mudge said. “This is huge. It’s been a real difficult year for us. This exceeds anything I was expecting. Even half as many gifts as there are under that tree would still have been phenomenal.”

And the fact that the gifts came from his colleagues made it even more special.

“I’ve gotten to know a lot of people who work for the city over the last few months and they all have big hearts,” he said. “I’ve never worked for a place like this. The people are great and it really feels like a family. 

“Seeing the joy on the boys’ faces is indescribable. Like many, Christmas is a very important time of the year for our family. It’s great knowing that things I could not have made happen this year will happen thanks to the generosity of others. Words fail to capture this moment.”

While words may have failed his dad at that moment, that wasn’t the case for Wyatt.

“It’s really amazing,” he said. “I’m just so happy. I wasn’t expecting this. This is a really big surprise. We’ll all love our presents. It’s one of the most amazing things that I have ever seen.”