Christmas came early for thousands of improverished children Saturday, when Mr. and Mrs. Kris Kringle handed out thousands of presents for a long-standing holiday tradition.
Over 10,000 children and families were expected to come to the Fred Jordan Mission in Los Angeles's Skid Row, in what was billed as LA's largest Christmas toy party for underprivileged kids, now in its 70th year.
Over 60,000 toys were donated for the kids, Mission officials said.
"We just cross our fingers and hope we run out of kids before we run out of toys," said Willie Jordan, whose late husband started the mission.
Each child would get five or six toys in their pre-packed gift sets, Jordan said, while mothers received a food bag with a frozen chicken, fresh produce, canned goods and more.
The 60,000 gifts donated to the Fred Jordan Mission was a record, with more donations being trucked in Saturday morning, officials said. Sponsors included Galpin Motors, the Metropolitan Transit Authority, Disney and California Baptist University.
"People in this community are really generous if they know where it's going," Jordan said.
