How Chicagoans are helping each other provide gifts for their families this Christmas
During this season of giving, many Chicagoans are generously helping Christmas special for other families.
See what groups across the area are doing and what you can still do this holiday season.
DeDe Tucker secured her spot in a long gift giveaway line that snaked outside Only Sports Arena in North Lawndale to get gifts for her four grandchildren.
"It means a lot to give to my grandkids and be thankful. I'm very thankful," she said.
Zoe Life Ministries organized the giveaway.
"It's not out of greed, it's a need that these people have, and they've waited. Some of them have waited for hours to be in line. There's still much more that we're still giving," senior pastor John Abercrombie Jr. said.
More than 1,000 were given 10 minutes to load up on clothing, bedding, toys, electronics, and household items just days before Christmas.
"I got a lot of stuff for 10 minutes," Krystle Wilson said.
On the South Side, Another Chance Church in the Roseland neighborhood is preparing for its annual toy drive on Monday.
Normally, by this time of the year, their sanctuary is filled with toys, but Pastor Kenyatta Smith said they are well short of their goal of 30,000 gifts, and are still accepting donations.
"This year has been the most challenged year for us, simply because of the tariffs and inflation, and businesses and corporations just are not giving like they was in the past," he said. "My fear is that, for 14 years, we have not ever ran out. This may be the year that we run out of toys."
In the Englewood neighborhood, Deonte Turner's home is filled with gifts as his organization Servants for Hope prepares to give out more than 1,500 wrapped presents and hundreds of coats on Saturday.
"You know, the trajectory of the community and the communal needs, I definitely think it'll be an 11th year," he said.