Elgin toy giveaway helps 1,200 families
As many as 1,200 families took part Thursday in the annual Elgin Community Holiday Toy Giveaway at Elgin's Hemmens Cultural Center.
By 11:30 a.m., close to 700 families had already checked in and were either in line or being helped by scores of volunteers. Teamed up in pairs, volunteers took parents through the massive selection of toys neatly organized. As the parent selected a toy for each child, their name would be marked off the list, the item bagged and they were on to the next child.
The process, perfected over many years, is a well-oiled machine.
It was a quick and easy process, even for one family had seven children on their list.
First-year volunteer Brian May of Elgin was constantly restocking tables, pulling games, dolls and stuffed toys from behind a black curtain wall. He was Wizard of Oz of sorts. Behind the black curtain were stacks of toys at least three feet tall on dozens of tables.
“Today is just really exciting. It's nice just to be a part of helping so many people,” he said. “You actually receive much more than you give because when you come and you help people you kind of realize how many blessing you have. So it's really nice to know when you help out like this how much you really do have. It's just nice to see the whole community come out and help everybody.”
Eight-year volunteer Kim Franson of Elgin remembers as a child how magical Christmas was for her. “It was the greatest day of the year,” she said. “The one that I looked forward to the most. It was just so awesome. I have goose bumps just thinking about it.”
She knows some kids don't have that experience.
“That would be the worst feeling in the world,” she said. “This is why I do it. Because I can't stand the thought some kid would come down the stairs and have nothing. So, that's why I'm here.”
Elgin attorney John Walters has been volunteering for more than 10 years at the event. “I love doing it. It's one of the neatest things that happens in the community.”
He enjoys seeing how happy parents are for what they can bring home for their kids. Parents like Arkeya Hall of Elgin, who has come for the past 12 years to bring home toys for her three children, whose range from 7 to 14 years old. “I'm feeling good that I'm able to give my kids something Christmas. Because I know that I can't really afford to get it, and they have it here. I'm just happy and joyous to have a Merry Christmas for my kids.”