Another bountiful holiday for Elgin-area families in need

Filled with the holiday spirit and bundled up in winter coats and hats, local volunteers set the stage Wednesday for another bountiful holiday for Elgin-area families in need.

The Elgin Community Holiday Toy Giveaway got underway as volunteers loaded up donated toys from around a Christmas tree in the pavilion of the Grand Victoria Casino before delivering them to the Hemmens Cultural Center for Thursday's giveaway.

The 16th-annual event runs from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. Thursday in the basement of the Hemmens, and is sponsored by the Grand Victoria Casino and the Grand Victoria Foundation.

Golden K Kiwanis volunteer Don Kramer said he and other club members enjoy the benefit of staying active in the community while doing something good for others. “It's a good thing to do; you're giving something back,” Kramer said. “Kids are going to have a good Christmas.”

In addition to roughly a dozen Kiwanis volunteers, staffers from the office of Kane County Coroner Chuck West were on hand to do some of the heavy lifting, loading the gifts into a delivery truck headed for the Hemmens. Aurora resident Eric West said he likes doing something for kids that normally wouldn't have many gifts during the holidays. “You get the reward when you see the smile on their faces when they come by and get all their gifts,” West said. “They light up. It's like a toy store.”

The Community Crisis Center, which coordinates the event, estimated 6,000 toys were given away last year to approximately 2,700 children.