Cars line up for Eastside distribution
Toys, blankets, jackets, hats are among items available
LANCASTER — More than 2,000 cars in a line that stretched some three miles through the eastside streets passed through a holiday distribution line for Eastside Union School District students and their families on Wednesday afternoon at Eastside’s Community Center on 30th Street East.
The event started about 3 p.m. and lasted until shortly after 9 p.m.
Giveaways included a toy for each child, blankets, jackets and hats, hygiene kits, diapers, formula and baby products.
Eastside’s Community Center partners with various organizations to meet the needs of their families. The district’s Board on Dec. 2 unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding with Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization Baby2Baby for the distribution event.
District social worker Shannon Birden, brought the proposal to partner with Baby2Baby to the district as she saw the needs of the Eastside community and the mission of Baby2Baby as highly compatible.
The holiday distribution event coincided with the district’s weekly food distribution. The event was scheduled to run from 3 to 5 p.m. With thousands of cars filled with children, a second wave of volunteers arrived at 5 p.m. to keep the distribution going. The last car passed through at 9:15 p.m.
“It’s so helpful. We can’t get a lot of gifts for Christmas and this is making such a difference,” said Roxanna, an Eastside Union School District parent.
Baby2Baby provides children living in poverty with diapers, clothing, and all the basic necessities that every child needs.
“Our team was so proud to be on the ground in Lancaster (Wednesday) to support thousands of Eastside Union School District students and their families with a distribution of diapers, warm jackets, soap, shampoo, masks, blankets, toys and more in a community impacted so severely by the Bobcat fire,” disaster relief specialist Marisa Muma said in a statement. “We know that families living in poverty are hit hardest in any crisis, and COVID-19 has been no exception. We hope that these essentials will alleviate some of the devastating effects of the fire on top of the pandemic and provide much needed relief during this challenging holiday season.”