Coachella Valley Rescue Mission hosts Annual Toy Giveaway for 2,500 kids

The Coachella Valley Rescue Mission is getting a head start on Santa Claus at their giveaway about 10,000 toys to nearly 5,000 valley kids.

It was all a part of their Annual Toy Giveaway at the CVRM center.

“It's all about putting smiles on kids' faces today. That's what it's all about," said CVRM development director Scott Wolf. “There's a lot of families out there that don't have the resources to have a good Christmas and we just want to make sure that that we solve that problem for them.”

As soon as kids walked through the door, Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus welcomed them. Also, each kid got their own stuffed animal.

“We're just really grateful and we couldn't do it without the community support," said Wolf.

The Murphy family wanted to give back through volunteering together.

“I just wanted to say, I'm just- I just think it's the right thing to do to help people," said Jacob Murphy. “It's been fun, but I will admit, I have been jealous of the toys but, it just it makes me [feel] good to help out people."

The volunteers would take families around and help them choose their toys.

“We have more than enough and we want to try to give back and also instill in our son the value of kind of giving back to the community," said Brendan Murphy.

The community coming together to make sure the holiday cheer is felt by everyone this year.

“It's been tough for all of us, I think, but I think people who are maybe less fortunate or people who lost their jobs or lost their homes, it's more important than ever really to be here and to give back," said Lora Murphy.

CVRM requests donations of new unwrapped toys for boys and girls from infant to pre-teen. Dolls, books, games, skateboards, sports equipment, balls, action figures, Legos, cars, trucks, and Barbies are some of the favorites.

Toy donations can be brought directly to CVRM at 47470 Van Buren St. in Indio.