San Jose charity begins giving holiday gifts to children in need

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- Some Bay Area parents shopped for their children at San Jose's Sacred Heart Community Service Wednesday ahead of Christmas.

Over the next two days, parents get to pick out two toys and a book for their children.

Sacred Heart workers said this is special for them, too. "They look around their neighborhoods, they see new buildings going up, old buildings going down. Neighbors being displaced. And then possibly seeing their families going through a little bit more struggles due to the times. So, us being able to provide, come together as a community, round up a bunch of toys and just have two days of full on cheer before Christmas, that's awesome for us," Sacred Heart Community Service spokesperson Efrain Segundo said.

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Sacred Heart employees said about 700 bicycles will also be given away in a raffle. "This is really helpful for us. Especially for me because I'm not working right now," parent Eileen Giron said.

"This is really helpful for us. Especially for me because I'm not working right now," said Eileen Giron. The shoppers aren't the only ones getting something out of this. Hundreds of volunteers help out at Sacred Heart during the holidays. "Toys are the best. It's so much fun to see families to come in and shop for their children," said volunteer, Elizabeth Ward. Sacred Heart still needs a few thousand more toys and books. You can donate here- sacredheartcs.orgThere were at least 6,200 kids who were registered for this year's event.

At last count, Sacred Heart Community Service was still short about 4,000 toys and books. The most needed items are Legos, action figures, toddler items and gift cards for teenagers.

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