15th annual Oakland Posada brings holiday cheer to Fruitvale

OAKLAND, Calif. - For hours on Saturday, kids and their parents played games, met Santa, picked out toys and ate cotton candy in Oakland's Fruitvale neighborhood, for free thanks to Oakland Posada. 

Saturday marked the 15th anniversary of Oakland Posada, an event that founder Alex Cook told KTVU looked a lot different in the early years. 

"It's incredible year after year to have an opportunity to establish relationships with the community to allow this event to be more driven by community," Cox said. 

He got emotional thinking about how the event had evolved and how many people he and other volunteers had been able to help. 

"It is rewarding on levels that I can't really explain," said Cox. 

Local vendors like Enzo's made it a priority to be at the event to give back. 

Enzo's CEO Jamie Finegold told KTVU he gave out 1,000 sets of brand-new pajamas for free. 

The annual event took many months to lab and required more than 80 volunteers of all ages. 

Some younger volunteers, like elementary school student Ariana, told KTVU, it feels good to give back to kids her age. 

"It really is fun because I get to see kids smile," Ariana said. "Even if they're older than me or my age, it makes me feel good."