A local church pastor is aiming to make sure several hundred children have a gift to open Christmas morning in a decades-long effort that has hit roadblocks this year.
For nearly 30 years, Bishop Virgil Jones and his mother have provided toys for kids in the on Chicago's South Side. T
"We're going to do everything that we can. If we can give them one piece of toy....something!" Jones of Sanctuary Church of Chicago said.
Bishop Jones and his mother Gertrude have held the Sanctuary Church of Chicago's annual Christmas toy drive for 29 years.
The event is in jeopardy in 2023 as Jones worries several hundred children may go without toys.
"We have a list of hundreds of children, but we only have a few toys and so we are really short of those toys," Jones said. "Everywhere I went, they were really short and they gave me what they had."
With 500 children's names on the church's Christmas list, only 100 toys have been collected thus far as Jones is expressing anxiety over fulfilling what the drive has done for years.
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"Nervous," said Bishop Jones. "Nervous and I'm praying that God would answer prayer. I don't want to turn no child away and I don't want to see a child not have anything for Christmas."
This year's toy drive is incredibly important for Bishop Jones, as it's the first since his mother's death in 2020. Her photo hangs on a blanket overlooking the church's sanctuary.
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"I think she's smiling on us," he said. "I think she's smiling on us and knows I'm a very hard worker and I go get it and try my best to do what I can for the children."
The church, located at 711 West 120th Street in the city's West Pullman neighborhood, is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on each day leading up to Christmas Eve, with donations being accepted.
