The Salvation Army handed out gifts to families in need on Friday at its centers in San Luis Obispo and Arroyo Grande.
"It's great. It's wonderful because there's a lot of people that don't do that anymore, that don't help out. It's mostly just fend for yourself, you know? And it's great to have a community that helps out," said one local mom who attended the toy distribution in San Luis Obispo. "(I'm) going to get gifts for my kids, two and three years old. And yeah, we're thankful for that."
In Arroyo Grande, the organization served about 400 children and more than 100 parents.
"Housing insecurity, food insecurity, those are usually priorities, especially at the holidays for a lot of families. It's like they have to make a choice between paying the light bill or getting a ball. and it's unfortunate that those are the decisions that today's people are facing. However, you know, it's our goal at the Salvation Army to provide and meet that need for these families in this area," said program administrator Kimberly Lewis.
"I think it's a release that's like an anxiety that maybe they just haven't had the opportunity this year to choose, like, whether they're going to pay a bill or if they're going to give their children a gift and this kind of takes away that anxiety," Salvation Army volunteer Vanessa Rozo said about Friday's distribution.
Some of the toys handed out on Friday were collected during KSBY's Season of Hope food and toy drive.
Champs and Footlocker also donated to Friday's event and a team of six representatives from the businesses helped with the distribution in Arroyo Grande.
