It’s been a December many would rather not remember: Millions of Americans out of work, out of money and struggling to even put food on the table, let alone to make ends meet. And that means things like holiday presents became a luxury item out of the reach of many.
Recognizing that for children, Christmas without toys is no Christmas at all, PESA rolled up its sleeves to support two different drives. For the first, our college club PESA-LMU, based on the campus of Loyola Marymount University, raised some $1500 to buy toys and gifts for resource-strapped Challenger Middle School students in the Antelope Valley.
For the second drive, PESA was invited by California State Senator Maria Elena Durazo to partner on her annual toy drive for which we raised $5650. Those funds went to purchase toys for needy families in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles.
On December 19, a number of PESA staffers gathered at Senator Durazo's event held in front of the LAPD’s Hollenbeck Division on 1st Street to make like Santa’s helpers and hand out gifts. PESA employee Frances Torres was among them, and she was moved by what she saw. She shares her experience here:
“Boyle Heights is a diverse community that has been hit rather hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. This toy drive brought some much-needed goodwill and cheer to the families in that community. From passing out toys to cars full of families, giving out food donations, and having entertainers and holiday music, I saw many happy smiles from children in each of the cars that came through. The younger the child, the bigger the smile, though even the older children had smiles on their faces as their parent(s) drove them away. I saw one child excitedly scream “Santa!” as her mother rolled down their windows to receive their toys. She just lit up when Santa came over and wished her a Merry Christmas and handed her a very large stuffed Minnie Mouse plush doll.
"This event helped many families who, with current conditions as they are, may not have been able to afford gifts at this time. I know firsthand from being a child in lines like these for food and toy drives growing up how much they truly appreciate and enjoy the kindness and gifts from these events. I too received a giant plush dog as a child. I loved it so much, and kept it until it finally began to fall apart when I was a teenager.
"We might think our actions don’t leave an impact on these children, but they do, and I’m sure we inspired at least one of them to volunteer and donate a toy to a toy drive in their community one day.” ■