Hundreds of Chicago families get gifts at annual Christmas in the Wards at McCormick Place
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The city's looming budget deadline might have been on the back of their minds, but Chicago families were the focus of city leaders on Saturday at Christmas in the Wards.
Mayor Brandon Johnson and 40 members of City Council helped distribute thousands of gifts to kids from all over Chicago.
McCormick Place was stocked with so many toys, it could have been the North Pole.
"If there's no PlayStation left, I'll take an icemaker, a dreamhouse. It doesn't matter. A microwave," said Maria Henderson, one of the many parents who came out to get gifts for their kids.
At Christmas in the Wards, hundreds of lucky families hauled home a stack of gifts.
"Toys for the children, a little playhouse, and just some little knickknacks from the different vendors that were here today," Stanley Holloway said.
Aldermen from 40 wards helped choose the families and fulfill their Christmas wishes.
"It means everything. It's a wonderful time, a wonderful event," Holloway said.
The event was a blessing to Stanley Holloway and Harmony Stanton and their two kids.
"It shows me that we matter to our community, to our community leaders; and then it also gives us more under the Christmas tree, which sometimes can be really hard to provide when you've got a whole family and you're just trying to make ends meet," Stanton said.
Since it first started in 1996, Christmas in the Wards has served approximately 12,000 families across Chicago.
"I think it brings together different communities and people from different walks of life that you might otherwise never get to interact with," Stanton said.
Before long, 1,500 coats, 125 laptops, dozens of bikes, and more than 10,000 toys were in grateful hands.
"I'm in a great spirit. I'm appreciative," Henderson said.
All that excitement can be exhausting for a kid.
"He's a little tired, because he didn't win a PlayStation 5, so he went to sleep," Henderson said.
But when he wakes, it'll be like Christmas all over again.
"He's going to be excited. He's going to be excited," Henderson said.
Christmas in the Wards started in 1996 helping about 50 families in Englewood. Now, the goal is to expand the event to help families from all 50 wards.