In downtown Los Angeles, Santa makes a special delivery
Cheerful Christmas carols, red-suited Santas and shiny new toys brought smiles to thousands of children and their families as they crowded the downtown Los Angeles area Sunday for annual food and toy giveaways.
FOR THE RECORD:
Christmas giveaway: An article in Monday’s Section A about a Christmas toy party at skid row’s Fred Jordan Mission reported that more than 10,000 children attended the event. More than 10,000 children and parents attended, the mission said. The error was repeated in a Sandy Banks column Tuesday. The article also said that families received frozen turkeys; they were given frozen chickens. —
More than 10,000 children from downtown and surrounding neighborhoods flocked to the Fred Jordan Mission for its 32nd annual event, billed as skid row’s largest Christmas toy party.
More than 450 volunteers readied themselves with sacks stuffed with Legos, Barbies and other dolls, remote-controlled cars, skateboards, puzzles, books, soccer balls and other goodies.
Each family also received hygiene kits, including toothbrushes and body wash; clothing such as hoodies and knit caps; and food packages filled with canned goods, rice and beans, bread and frozen turkeys.
The Walt Disney Co. provided entertainment, said Tom Jordan, the mission’s executive vice president and son of its founder, the late Fred Jordan, and his wife, Willie Jordan, who is its president. The mission has been a bulwark on skid row for 66 years.
The economic downturn has taken a toll, said Tom Jordan. He said donations are down 30% in the last 18 months, and families who once volunteered are now in need themselves. “Things have been difficult this year, but you see a day like today and see L.A. at its finest, giving back,” Jordan said.
A few miles away, the scene was just as festive at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, where 7,000 children and their families participated in “Christmas in the City,” organized by the Dream Center, a Los Angeles nonprofit that serves homeless people, abandoned youth, gang members and those with drug and alcohol addictions.
The group distributed several thousand bikes and other toys.
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