With the pandemic continuing as 2020 draws to a close, Santa and his elves might need a little extra help this holiday season.
Local nonprofits offer ample opportunities for Tucsonans looking to inject some cheer into the end of the year for local children and families in need.
“We want children to have the joy of receiving a gift from their parents and we want parents to have the joy of giving their children gifts to open on Christmas Day. We have so many families who are struggling because parents have lost their jobs or been laid off due to COVID. They are struggling to pay the rent and put food on the table, and on top of those stressors, they are dealing with the fact that their child has been abused,” said Dan Gregory, community development coordinator for the Southern Arizona Children’s Advocacy Center.
Gregory said that the center’s “Be an ELF (Enhancing the Lives of Families)” Program seeks to serve 200 families, providing parents the opportunity to gift their children toys and/or gift cards that have been donated by the community. Each family will also receive a grocery store gift card.
Though the gifts are not large, Gregory said they have great meaning for the families served by the nonprofit, which is dedicated to providing a safe, compassionate and healing environment for children who have been victims or witnessed crimes of child abuse.
“COVID has had a real impact on our families. We hope to provide these initial gifts and if we have enough donations, we will do a little more. We really want to spread the wealth as much as we can at this difficult time,” Gregory said.
Miracle En El Barrio
Another local toy drive on a mission to spread seasonal joy is the Annual Miracle En El Barrio, which has been changed to a drive-thru format for 2020.
The event was founded 18 years ago by NOVA CEO Jon Volpe and his friend, Steve Nuñez, to provide toys for children in South Tucson who might not otherwise receive gifts. Since then, it has gifted nearly 40,000 toys to local kids and evolved into the single largest local toy donation event by a private business, according to Kathy Stern of NOVA Home Loans.
Stern credits generous sponsors — including Chick-fil-A, Peter Piper Pizza, La Frontera, Premier Title Agency and others — along with NOVA employees and individuals from the community for the ongoing success of the event. Additionally, she said the city of Tucson and the Tucson Police Department have helped to bring the drive-thru event to fruition.
“Everything is different this year: The location is different and it is a drive-thru event, but we are determined to make this the best event we can. We know that 2020 has been difficult and we need a miracle more than ever this year. We are optimistic that people will step up to make that happen,” she said.
