Mayor Nutter Lends a Hand Again For 'Operation Holiday Help' Giveaway
By John Ostapkovich
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Mayor Nutter joined Santa today for an early delivery of Christmas presents to a half-dozen Philadelphia families.
"Gracious God. We come to you to say thank you..."
With that invocation, a U-Haul truck loaded with gifts and a caravan of honorary elves began their trek through South Philadelphia.
This is the fourth year for "Operation Holiday Help" by the group Unity in the Community, and Mayor Nutter liked the reactions of recipients last year.
"They were really surprised," he recalls. "The kids were happy. The parents were happy. You know, it's still a tough time out here, whether it's because of unemployment benefits running out, people losing their job, or whatever the case may be."
Unity in the Community founder Anton Moore (see related story) says recipients and donations were crowd-sourced, which he said is good "to bring the community together and engage the community on a grassroots level, getting them involved in helping neighbors that we see on an everyday basis."
Among the gifts were bicycles and helmets for kids, some food and Longhorn Steakhouse gift certificates for families.
