It was like Christmas morning. But instead of running toward presents under the tree, children were running toward giant black garbage bags.
All the quintessential elements of Christmas were at the scene.
Children's screams echoed in the glass lobby, as moms and dads tried to keep them from tearing into the gifts. They were at Harvest Bible Chapel on Saturday, Dec. 16, where about 50 men, women and children arrived for an end-of-year celebration for Harvest House, a ministry of Harvest Bible Chapel of Elgin.
Those garbage bags were filled with wrapped Christmas presents and coats for each family member.
Lora Sutton, a single mom to Erica and Eric, works full time but has a hard time making ends meet. She said, pointing to the bags with a smile, her family would have had a Christmas without presents if it weren't for the Harvest House ministry.
"This is what they will be able to have for Christmas this year," Sutton said.
When asked what she wanted for Christmas, Erica shrugged and replied with a smile, "Oh, anything."
Luz Marin, a resident of Elgin's Mulberry Court neighborhood for three years, said Harvest House offers unique help to her family.
"I went last week to other charitable organizations in the area, and they couldn't help me.
If you ask the people at Harvest House for help, you know they will provide it," Marin said.
After exhausting her resources by going to local charities and asking for help, she started preparing her kids for the worst.
"I was telling them that after taxes, I would get something for them," Marin said.
She looked over at 13-year-old Alex, 10-year-old Roque, and 2-year-old Frankie playing in the lobby, and said laughing, "They probably think they are going to open them now, but they are not."
That Saturday evening included an awards ceremony for the kids in the Harvest House after-school program. Kent Steiner, pastor of compassion ministries at Harvest Bible Chapel, said the greatest part of the evening was seeing the impact the event had on the families.
"They were able to all come together as a family and see what their kids are achieving in the after-school program and to be able to recognize what the kids are doing," Steiner said.
Steiner said the Christmas program served a dual purpose. One was providing for people's needs, the other was pointing to something beyond the physical.
"Hopefully, we can help them to provide things that they may not have had on their own," Steiner said.
In addition, Steiner said he hopes events like these serve a greater purpose.
"For us, we did give things away, but the true meaning of Christmas is Jesus Christ.
That was the message we had for the whole family," Steiner said.
Harvest House is a ministry that began in the summer of 2005 that offers after-school programs to tutor neighborhood children, ESL programs for adults, as well as financial support in the form of holiday meals for needy families at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Brit Gilman, director of neighborhood outreach at Harvest Bible Chapel, looked at participation in the event as evidence of the impact that Harvest House is having on the community.
More than half the students' parents came with their children Dec. 16, and he hopes the trend of parental involvement will continue.
"What's exciting about Harvest House is that it's a radical, cutting-edge ministry.
We're in the community on a daily basis, making ourselves available to them to help meet their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs," Gilman said.
Gilman said the Christmas season is an important time to reach out to the community.
"For the families in Mulberry Court who are struggling to make ends meet, the lack of funds becomes especially poignant during the Christmas season, as they're not able to provide for themselves," Gilman said.
"We must come by their side during this time, but the partnership must not end at Christmas. Events like this are simply a continuation of what we're doing, and we must keep on doing if we're to have a genuine impact on the lives in this neighborhood.
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