DENVER — The City of Denver on Tuesday spread holiday cheer to roughly 1,500 migrant children thanks to donations from Denverites.
The city opened a toy drive several weeks ago and collected 4,000 new toys.
On Tuesday, families gathered in the lobby of a hotel that's recently been converted to a shelter. Each child was able to pick out two toys.
"It's been great. Every kid is going to get a wonderful gift," said Bret Walker with the City of Denver. "They've been through a lot. They've traveled. We wanted to just bring some joy to their life and get them a toy."
According to the city, 263 migrants arrived in Denver on Tuesday, while 114 arrived Monday. There are 3,672 migrants in non-city shelters as of Tuesday.
In total, the city has helped 32,728 migrants.
Here's how you can help refugees and immigrants coming to Denver
If you’d like to help as the city responds to this migrant crisis, you can do so with donations – either material or monetary. If opting for the former, the city is asking for the following items:
- Socks (new/unopened only)
- Bras - small/medium/large
- Women’s clothing - small/medium/large
- Men’s clothing - small/medium
- Winter hats - gender neutral and kids/one size fits all
- Winter gloves - men's, women's and kids/small and medium sizes
- Scarves - various sizes
Those items can be dropped off at the following locations:
- Community Ministry (Children's clothing only), located at 1755 S Zuni Street in Denver, from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Monday through Thursday
- Para Ti Mujer, located at 150 Sheridan Boulevard Suite 200 in Lakewood, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday or Friday
- Colorado Changemakers Collective, located at 12075 East 45th Avenue in Denver, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday
Please call 720-385-9173 before dropping off donations.
If you want to donate money, you can donate to the Newcomers Fund.
