San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
NEW FORMAT, BUT SAME SPIRIT AT EVENT
Nearly 4,000 families take part in Toys for Joy, hosted by Rock Church
To adjust for the pandemic, the massive Toys for Joy charity event had to be much different this year. But cheer that radiated from families and volunteers alike was just the same.
Gone was the open invitation to the public, the people crowded around tables in a gymnasium to receive food and gifts, and the festival-like atmosphere that usually marks the Rock Church-hosted event. Instead, the 24th annual Christmas giveaway Saturday morning in San Diego, San Marcos, El Cajon and Bonita took the form of a drive-thru distribution to nearly 4,000 pre-registered families.
“Look at the joy in these families’ faces; look at the joy you see in the volunteers,” said Geniese Ligon, a longtime Toys for Joy volunteer. “We get more than they get, because we get to see passion, grace, compassion, love. And to see these families’ faces just breathe a little bit for the day is everything. It’s just everything.”
She said she couldn’t imagine any circumstance that would keep the founder of the event, Miles Mcpherson, senior pastor at the Rock, from finding a way to deliver joy and hope to needy families at Christmas.
At the drive-thru location in Clairemont, vehicles with children inside were released in batches from a waiting area and directed into lanes marked by orange cones in a large parking lot where thousands of toys and 30-pound boxes of nonperishable food sat ready for pickup. Families collected their haul from friendly, sociallydistanced, mask-wearing volunteers decked out in Santa hats and other holiday flair.
The event handed out triple the usual amount of groceries because the pandemic has led to increased hunger as more families struggle to get by, organizers said.
Volunteers, lined up a car length apart, came up to each vehicle to talk to the driver, say hello to the children and hand over a bag with the Gospel, books and a video of Mcpherson telling them God loves them.
Alice Bain, who brought her 7year-old twins and their small dog, said this year was the first time she’s needed help at the holidays. She said she has been trying to get by on part-time work since the pandemic forced her out of her job.
“I’m a single mother, so I have to be home with (the children), so I quit my job,” she said. “It has been really rough.”
Miriam Variaza of San Diego said breadwinners in her family had lost work because of the pandemic, leading them to seek help at the holidays for the first time. Just being out of the house for the first time in a long time was exciting for the three children in the back seat, she said. “I think it overall has been a year that we didn’t expect. It has created a bigger bond overall as a family, but with income, things have changed,” she said. Toys for Joy is “something our little ones can actually see, and seeing all the people out here makes them happy.”
Mcpherson said putting on Toys for Joy cost about $400,000, the same as in past years. He said the money comes from donations and in-kind contributions.
morgan.cook@sduniontribune.com