Community groups come together to support families at Christmas
Like Santa's sleigh, a truck packed with boxes and bags arrived at the Park Hill golf course - just in time for Christmas.
"Ho ho ho," one volunteer said carrying packages inside.
That delivery was just one of the donations that helped turn an empty clubhouse into a winter wonderland with toys, games and clothes lining the room.
"Things like this, it's a blessing," Jazzmine Lucero said.
Lucero, a mother of four, knew this holiday season would be tough.
"I actually, just in June, had my son and he was premature," she said. "So I wasn't...I haven't been able to work, you know. I was in the NICU for a while, so this Christmas was going to kind of hit us hard."
Groups like McBride Impact, JEKL, NAACP & Kids Above Everything typically hold their own giveaways. But this year those groups did things a little different.
"You just have these great organizations coming together to say we were to do this together and pull all our resources together, we could make some great things happen. That's the magic behind it," Dane Washington, President of the Kids Above Everything organization said.
That magic meant thousands of gifts were available to the community for free.
"This allows them to give in the tradition of Christmas without necessarily creating more strain on the already strained checkbooks, already strained bank accounts, already strained savings.
"So no child gets to feel like on Christmas day they were left out," Toi Massey founder of JEKL, an organization for STEAM education, said.
Lucero was able to leave with a little something for each of her children,
"It's nice to do stuff, like that's not YouTube and TV," Lucero said.
And for herself, the event, she said, was a welcome reminder.
"With all the bad there is still good, and it gives you hope."
To learn more about the Organizations involved, or upcoming events you can visit the links below.
https://www.mcbrideimpact.org/