TOLEDO, Ohio — The holiday spirit has come early for families and community members of Riverside Elementary School.
The school hosted a Christmas giveaway to help families who may be in need of everyday household items.
Community Hub Director, Travis Amison said it's important they hold events like these.
"It's a huge need. When I got here, about two years ago, a lot of individuals weren't really familiar with the need here. It was new to me," Amison said. "So I had to dissect and jump in and get a pulse of what the need was and the need is a lot of basic items."
New and gently used clothes, toys, other home goods were up for grabs, thanks to donations from members and businesses in the community. But, Riverside families are no stranger to this type of generosity.
"Riverside always helps us. Anytime there's a need like school supplies, Ms. Muggy and Ms. Lynda are always here to help the kids," community member, Dorothy Vardaman said.
Amison said families could grab whatever they wanted as long as it fit into two grocery bags.
Everyone was also given a hat and some gloves on their way out to help stay warm over the next couple of months.
"Each day I have the opportunity to assist and help in the advancement of the community, I'm all for it. It's a feeling I can't even put in words," Amison said.
Since this is the first year of the Christmas giveaway, the community is hoping this can become an annual tradition.