Santa Claus poses with a Salina Elementary School student Dec. 18 at the south-end Dearborn school.                                                                                                           PHOTOS/VIDEO: Khalil AlHajal

DEARBORN — Hundreds of basketballs, dolls, toy trucks and smiles passed through the Salina Elementary School gym throughout the day as Santa Claus paid his annual pre-Christmas visit to Dearborn’s south-end community Dec. 18.

ACCESS, Comerica Bank and the Kiwanis Club of Dearborn sponsored the gift giveaway that’s become a tradition in the historic immigrant neighborhood that’s become a Yemeni-American enclave.

“I’d give up anything for this project,” said ACCESS Social Services Director Brigitte Anouti.

She said the group has been distributing gifts to children in the neighborhood for 38 years, to fulfill both need and tradition.

“This neighborhood historically has been the most impoverished area in Dearborn,” she said. “It’s still a gateway for the immigrants here.”

Comerica Bank Vice President Amal Berry-Brown said the event is the most touching of the company’s community initiatives.

“Just to be able to have that heartwarming feeling is really amazing,” she said.

She said she was most moved when a class of students who don’t yet speak English, children of recent immigrants, came into the gym for their turn and Santa was able to greet them and wish them happy holidays in fluent Arabic.