Thirty-five years in the making, Frank and Charlene King’s “Christmas with Kids” fired off early Christmas morning in National City. A crowd of young boys and girls from the neighborhood and as far as Tijuana, Mexico, cheered and waved as Santa’s elves “” more than a dozen bikers from various motorcycle clubs “” roared down 3rd Street behind a bearded, jolly Santa Claus and his gleaming Harley Davidson. Santa’s sleigh, a decorated 18-wheeler with trailer, followed close behind the parade, accompanied by two squad cars from the National City Police Department, blaring its welcoming air-horn as the many unprivileged children beamed at the trailer’s contents: thousands of dollars in new and used toys for the crowd of children.
Frank King began his organization in 1971, after sympathy for his struggling neighbors drove his passion to see every child with a toy. King watched over his neighbor’s children as both marital and financial problems burdened their livelihood. Frank recalled Christmas morning that year: “These kids sat with a rabbit-eared black and white television set on a carpetless floor and expected a peanut-butter sandwich for Christmas dinner.”
With compassion, King reminisced how he asked the mother if he could bring her children toys for Christmas; he then went home and pulled on a red shirt and Santa hat and brought them each a toy. The smiles on their faces kicked King into high gear.
When asked what, if he could have anything in the world, would it be, King replied to his daughter, “A toy for every kid in my neighborhood.” With a growing amount of donors to the nonprofit group and countless hours of volunteer work in preparing toys and repairing hundreds of bicycles for each Christmas, more and more children line up than just the neighborhood kids.
Charlene King noted that word of the event now spreads pretty fast. “We don’t need to get the word out. They know.”
Children come from many areas of San Diego, shelters and even Mexico. “Where the kids come from doesn’t matter; they’re kids, and they need toys,” Charlene King said.
Christmas with Kids received about $10,000 in donations this year, from both major companies to smaller groups, including Wal-Mart, Sycuan, EDCO, Boozefighters motorcycle club and private donors. Hannah Brown, a 14-year-old volunteer from Thousand Trails, an organization that donated $4,400, said she loves the “looks on the kids’ faces and the noise of the motorcycles starting up in the morning.”
San Diego news agencies have made it a tradition to cover the annual event in special television segments, and among the faces of Christmas with Kids this year was National City Mayor Ron Morrison. Chief of Police Adolfo Gonzales, also present, described the scene as “wonderful,” and that it was. The couple-dozen volunteers and close to a thousand children went home this Christmas with something to show, whether it be a brand-new bike, a toy and stuffed animal from Santa’s sleigh, or a warm heart. And the smiling children and parents, King says, still bring joyful tears to his eyes.