Salvation Army Aurora Corps provides thousands of toys to families

A long line of cars circled the Galena Square parking lot Friday outside the Salvation Army toy distribution warehouse in a former store.

This year, the Salvation Army Aurora Corps distributed thousands of toys for Christmas to more than 1,200 local families as part of the Angel Tree program.

Volunteer Bob Harding of Aurora pushed one of the carts filled with food and a red or green bag of toys to the waiting families.

With more families facing hardship this year, the need to serve those most vulnerable is greater than ever before.

"Day in and day out, we assist people," said Janille Likens of the Salvation Army. "But when you're in a global pandemic and you see the people who are really suffering - and you speak with them and you look them in the eye and you hear their story - it's really heartbreaking."

Likens said the Salvation Army is seeing people who have donated in previous years now coming to receive donations.

"That truly makes our work even more important," she said.

To ensure that all children have a gift to open for Christmas, the Salvation Army identifies families in need, and donors buy the requested gifts. The Salvation Army then provides each family a box full of special foods for the holiday season.

While the Angel Tree program ended on Friday afternoon, Likens said the Salvation Army is still taking requests "because we don't want to turn anybody away."

"So if somebody calls us tomorrow, maybe Monday, we're still going to try to honor them," she said.

The Salvation Army Aurora Corps serves Aurora and the surrounding communities of Montgomery, Naperville, North Aurora and Oswego.