Dozens of boxes, almost 100 volunteers and roughly 6,000 stockings later, prepared toys and treats are ready for three giveaways in Yuma, Tucson and Phoenix.
“You’ll have Santa Claus riding in, hanging out, distributing the stockings,” said Adriana Delgado, who has been volunteering to stuff and distribute stockings for roughly 13 years. “Kids will receive a toy of some sort that's age-appropriate.”
Cardinals defensive tackle Roy Lopez was there with his parents and other family members to help out with the Angeles del Barrio events.
“Just giving back to the community period, you know?” said Lopez. “It makes it easier to be able to share a smile with them. And everybody appreciates them as well. So, it's pretty cool. Everybody's got work today. And they're still here, you know? So it's amazing.”
Lopez said thanks to the role models in his family and community, he’s doing his best to leverage his platform in a way that benefits the communities he came from.
Alicia Nuñez is the CEO of Chicanos por la Causa, which she says has run a health-care resources fair alongside the giveaways for years.
They’ve been able to foster trust with local communities, she said, that has helped get a foot in the door to access health care resources for many.
“Last year, we had a wonderful event. We had over 8,000 people participate and this is children and families that came,” said Nuñez.
Compared to previous years, Nuñez said they could draw in even bigger crowds for the distribution events in a couple of weeks.
