Event brings Christmas cheer to families in need

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, Calif. (KTVU) - During this holiday season some families have to choose between paying rent or buying gifts for their children.

KTVU's Rob Roth went to a celebration in Contra Costa County for families facing hard times where every child walked out with Christmas presents.

A line stretched from Richmond's Civic Center Auditorium, up the street and around the corner.

Families down on their luck were waiting to get inside the Civic Auditorium for a holiday celebration.

Inside more than 1,500 children, some of them homeless and others from families on hard times watched a holiday show.

Every child at the event received two presents.

One woman says she's not sure what kind of Christmas she would have been able to provide for her 11-year-old daughter.

The holiday party was sponsored by the Bay Area rescue mission, which works with homeless people in Richmond.

It took hundreds of volunteers to wrap the almost 4,000 presents.

The Bay Area Rescue Mission hopes to hold the celebration every year, so that every child can find some Christmas cheer.