An estimated 3,700 needy San Diego families loaded up on groceries, toys and holiday cheer on Saturday during the 25th annual Toys for Joy giveaway.

Families drove through parking lots at San Diego Mesa College in Clairemont and Palomar College in San Marcos, where bubbly volunteers filled the trunks of each car with 48 pounds of turkey, vegetables and canned goods. They also gifted backpacks and toys for children 11 and under, including trucks, arts and crafts kits and indoor basketball sets.

Chula Vista resident Cynthia Medina felt blessed to be one of the recipients. The 31-year-old mother of four lost her job as a receptionist in May of 2020 when one of her daughters developed a severe case of pneumonia. Medina says she was fired after taking time off to see whether her daughter, who was on a ventilator for weeks, would pull through.

The child survived, but putting food on the table has been a struggle ever since for the family. That’s why Medina was touched to receive an unexpected email from the Chula Vista Elementary School District telling her about Toys for Joy.

“As a mother, you feel like you’re letting your kids down,” she said. “You fight and you struggle going and asking for help. And when you do ask for help, there’s always those angels there reaching out to you.”

On Saturday, those angels were about 1,000 volunteers, many from Rock Church, the event’s main sponsor, as well as from local school districts and other groups. They directed traffic, loaded up cars with gifts and waved and cheered non-stop, dancing in place to pop Christmas tunes that blasted from a sound system.

Geniese Ligon’s attire was typical for the occasion: a sparkly purple Santa hat, fuzzy reindeer antlers, snowflake-patterned socks and a sleigh bell dangling from her neck. She showed up at 4:30 a.m. to check in other volunteers and help set things up before the first families rolled through at 9 a.m.

“This for me is the start of the Christmas season,” she said, beaming. “This marks the beginning.”

More than 200,000 San Diegans have been helped by Toys for Joy over the decades. The event shifted to a drive-thru format for the past couple years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and numerous red signs on Saturday reminded volunteers to “sanitize those praise hands.”

Rock Church Pastor Miles McPherson says he misses the walk-up format of years past — which made it easier to greet and connect with families and included an impressive toy room — and is hopeful they’ll return to those direct, personal interactions soon. But he was still pleased with Saturday’s event, which he sees as an expression of Christian faith.

“God gave his son,” he said. “We want to give these people food and clothes and also know the reason we’re doing this is because God loves you.”

That sentiment was widely shared. After hearing Medina’s story, Ligon took a minute to pray with her, gripping Medina’s forearm as the mother began to tear up and reassuring her that better days were ahead.

Those are the kind of humbling moments that have kept Ligon volunteering at Toys for Joy for 13 years, she says, and that keep her coming back.

“There go I but for the grace of God,” she said. And then she went back to work.

Get Essential San Diego, weekday mornings

Get top headlines from the Union-Tribune in your inbox weekday mornings, including top news, local, sports, business, entertainment and opinion.

You may occasionally receive promotional content from the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Bay Area startup, Locale, will begin delivering homemade pasta, bakery goods and ready-to-eat meals to San Diego consumers from vendors as far as 300 miles away.

For local civic leader, recycling means biking from coast to coast a second time

City officials, homeless advocates and people living on the street offered several theories for the increase

Pam Covarrubias’ ‘Café con Pam’ was named a top Latino podcast by Oprah Daily

Three Future Centers are opening doors for students at San Marcos high schools

Officials say San Diego can carefully tailor preferences to comply with voter-approved Proposition 209.

Privacy Policy Terms of Service Sign Up For Our Newsletters