CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — This Christmas Eve, Santa's delivering his toys with a little help from the church.
"It's a great blessing to see the helpers come out and give their talent and their time to help out in this special time of year and we're all doing it for one cause only and that's for the children," John Melendez, Pastor of Christ Church of Prayers said.
Melendez has been a pastor at the church since 2004. It was his idea to start a toy drive 12 years ago and it's expanded ever since.
"You see their faces as you come down the street and they start lighting up, smiling,” Jacoby Hayes said. “They come running outside, it's like oh my god, oh my god. You know, that's amazing right there."
Thanks to a partnership with Toys for Tots, what started as a small batch of hundreds of toys is now thousands. For children and families experiencing financial hardship, it's been helping make Christmas feel more normal.
The above video is from a previous broadcast.
"At the beginning, we had very little toys, just a few bags, but we were doing everything by heart and with a lot of love,” Melendez said. “And eventually, Toys for Toys got involved and it just blossomed."
"It's been a tough few years, you know, everyone's been hit by this pandemic so these kids need a little something at the end of the year to brighten up their year,” Maria Guadalupe said.
This will be the last Christmas the Christ Church of Prayers gets to do this. The church will close because of lack of attendance and finances. However, for members of the faith community, they are perpetually optimistic.
"I think it will affect, but not necessarily impact because Pastor John, Evangelist Cindy, they give their hearts out no matter what," Jacoby Hayes said.
Melendez will take some time off and hopes to find a new location to continue practicing his faith. As for Santa, he will make sure children around Flour Bluff get to celebrate Christmas with new toys under the tree.
For the latest updates on coronavirus in the Coastal Bend, click here.
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