Kidz Korna Prepares For Annual Weekend-Long Toy Giveaway

Kidz Korna, a local nonprofit organization, will soon host their 13th annual weekend-long Toy Giveaway that will take place at various locations on the south and west sides of Chicago. Photo Credit: Kidz Korna
Kidz Korna, a local nonprofit organization, will soon host their 13th annual weekend-long Toy Giveaway that will take place at various locations on the south and west sides of Chicago. Photo Credit: Kidz Korna

Kidz Korna Prepares For Annual Weekend-Long Toy Giveaway

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

A local nonprofit organization, Kidz Korna, will host their 13th Annual Toy Giveaway Tour from Dec. 21 to Dec. 23 at four different locations on Chicago’s south and west sides. This year’s project theme is A Christmas Giveaway Weekend to Help Cure Violence.

Toys will be given away on Dec 21 from noon to 6 p.m. at the KROC Center, 1250 W. 119th St., on Dec. 22 from noon to 2 p.m. at Faith, Hope, and Charity, 354 W. 71st St., and on Dec 23 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Prayze Cafe Radio 1570 AM, 60th Street and Michigan, Avenue and also at the Original Providence Baptist Church located at 515 N. Pine Ave. in Austin.

“Kidz Korna has been established since 1995 and we have over 20 years of experience in taking young people from the corners to opportunities, literally,” said Delece Williams, founder of Kidz Korna. “When we first started out, we wanted to just give young people a voice and give them a chance to talk outside of the influence of their parents.”

Since founding the organization in 1995, Kidz Korna has been a part of initiating over 50 youth-centered programs, served of 30,000 youth and their families, and given away over 125,000 toys.

“We have been doing the toy give away for 13 years now. I normally go back to my previous donors or they call me and get me motivated to start collecting toys each year. It’s a lot of work but it’s worth it. For the most part, I have a lot of faithful donors each year that give and they see that the program is growing so each year they try to give a little bit more,” said Williams.

The gifts that will be given away at the event include toys, clothes, and other exciting items that have been generously donated. The only requirement to receive a toy is to have your children with you. Gifts will not be given to adults without children present.

“We just give them gifts as long as they show up. We want the kids and their families to know that we care about them and that we are trying to do something to help their situations,” said Williams.

Normally, on the day of the Toy Giveaways, William said that she is busily running around trying to make sure everything comes together, but there is always one thing that causes her to pause and that is the people.

“What stops me in my tracks is when people, especially the grandmothers, come to me in tears saying they don’t know what they would have done if they weren’t able to come to our toy giveaway. That really warms my heart and helps us to realize how people are really struggling around the holidays and I just salute everyone that is trying to play Santa,” said Williams.

To learn more about the Toy Giveaway and Kidz Korna’s year-round projects, visit www. thekidzkorna.com.

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