Each year, City Council members work with school principals to find families who are having an especially tough time at the holidays to help them get Christmas gifts under the tree.
CHICAGO -- A Chicago holiday tradition that began super small has grown and grown in the years since.Christmas in the Wards began in a single ward in the 1990s, and has since grown to 40 wards, making the holiday nicer for families across the city.It was no ordinary Christmas shopping trip when Kayla and her brothers Kaiden and Kane carefully went up and down the aisles at the Walmart in Pullman, choosing their own gifts.
'In 1997, Christmas in the Wards was held in Terry Peterson's 17th Ward office with about 50 families, with about 150 kids,' he said.Now, it's up to hundreds of kids, and what started with one ward now includes 40. Huggins said the gifts go beyond toys; to laptops, iPads and more.'We give each child, each family a raffle ticket, and if their number is called, they can go and pick any prize on the floor that they want,' he said.
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