Families gathered at Gumbiner Park Saturday afternoon for the second annual Northeast Village Neighborhood Toy Giveaway with free toys, music, hot chocolate and arts and crafts stations.

Organized by by Mayor Rex Richardson, Councilmember Mary Zendejas, the Northeast Village Neighborhood Association and the Long Beach Fire Department, the giveaway was a chance to ease the burden of Christmas shopping on families from the 90813 ZIP code this holiday season.

“We as a community need to be able to create joy for our residents,” Zendejas said. “We want the children of this area to feel special, because they are.”

Last year’s event was smaller, Zendejas said, but organizers were motivated to bring it back this year on a bigger scale and hope next year will be even bigger.

Eva Torres and her four children, Jaylah, 8, Zaylah, 8, Abdiel, 10, and Yael, 9, with their toys from the Northeast Village Neighborhood Toy Giveaway on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023. Photo by Caitlin Antonios.

Families lined up before noon to receive their gifts while supplies lasted. Children under 14 could pick out a toy of their choosing from the selection and teenagers were offered the choice of a $30 gift card. Pizza and refreshments were also handed out to those hanging out at the park.

“It means a lot,” Eva Torres, a mother of four, said. “The kids get super happy and it helps us.”

Torres’ four kids, ages 8 to 10, picked up a variety of gifts like Nerf guns, a Barbie and a beginner’s guitar.

One volunteer, Elizabeth Ruiz, knows what it’s like to be one of those children. When she was younger, as the oldest child in her family and a translator for her mother who didn’t speak English, she signed her family up for toy drives.

“As we get older we know the stress it takes to put on a Christmas,” Ruiz said.

Another volunteer, Mary Mendoza, 70, has been living in Long Beach since she was 6 years old. She worked briefly as a teacher before becoming a nurse before retiring after 47 years. Mendoza arrived at the park at 9 a.m. after attending church across the street, three hours before the event was set to begin.

She brought sandwiches for the homeless community who were staying in the park and they helped her clean up the space before the event began. Mendoza, who lives down the street from the park, heard about the event last year from word of mouth and made sure to volunteer again this year.

“I like to volunteer because I’m retired,” Mendoza said. “Community is my family, this is what makes me happy.”