Posted on December 22, 2020

Toys & Clothes for the holidays!

Did you know that over 90 percent of the households that we have served at the Karsh Center reported that they had lost a job or had hours cut due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the last few months?  With clients in our neighborhoods spending almost 50% of their monthly income on rent and utilities, buying gifts for their children for the holidays is more difficult this year than ever before. For the past month, we have been collecting toys and children’s clothes for families with children ages 0-12.  Our generous donors and friends of the Karsh Center have really stepped up donating fun toys, educational material, coloring books, baby onesies, socks, toddler jackets and pants and so much more! Starting this past Friday, families have been able to come in to choose holiday gifts and clothes to give to their children. One at a time, families have been coming up to our distribution center to have the chance to look through all of the toys laid out behind the garland lined plexiglass window and choose any gift to bring home.

When a five-year-old girl wearing a sparkly Princess Elsa tee-shirt strolled up to the counter with her mom, baby sister and older brother and saw a Frozen coloring set through the plexiglass window, all at once their eyes lit up.  Her big brother yelled out, “oh, she LOVES Frozen!” They walked out with a perfectly wrapped Frozen coloring set, a lego car kit, and a wooden baby percussion set for her siblings to unwrap for the holidays.

We have been able to give out 238 toys and clothes to just about 100 families over the course of the past week and a half. This has been thanks to the support of Wilshire Boulevard Temple, Brawerman Elementary School, Religious School and Early Childhood Centers, the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, the Miracle Mile Chamber of Commerce, and Women of Wilshire (WOW) and many individual donors who have sent or dropped off toys and clothes. We feel thankful to help parents provide joy and smiles to their children after what has been a hard and challenging year for so many.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to you and your family!