Church Pleads For Toy Donations as Demand Surges Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
Rev. William Melvin Jones, pastor at Sanctuary Church in Chicago, said volunteers have been working around the clock to bring Christmas to children across the city. We are going to be here all night long, Jones said.
For more than 24 years, the Chicago Toy Depository at Sanctuary Church has been answering Christmas letters from children, preparing toys and filling stockings for typical several hundred families.
This year, however, the church received more than 1,000 requests for toys and food in light of the financial struggles people are facing during the coronavirus pandemic. In a message Wednesday, the Chicago Toy Depository said they are still in desperate need of 800 toys.
US Postal Service Dealing with ‘Historic Volume of Holiday Mail
If you mailed-out holiday gifts weeks ago thinking the packages would arrive in plenty of time for Christmas Day, you may want to check the status of the delivery.
“This negative impact is compounded by the temporary employee shortage due to the COVID-19 surge, as well as ongoing capacity challenges with airlifts and trucking for moving this historic volume of mail,” said USPS spokesperson Tim Norman.
The American Postal Workers Union said nearly 19,000 postal employees are currently in quarantine after either contracting, or being exposed to, the coronavirus.
“You have to understand that we’ve had people exposed to the virus. They’ve had childcare issues or they’re not able to come to work,” said APWU Local 1 Chicago president Keith Richardson.
Illinois Reports 4,699 New Coronavirus Cases, 98 Additional Deaths Monday
According to the latest numbers from the Illinois Department of Public Health, Illinois now has 905,069 probable or confirmed cases of coronavirus during the pandemic.
Monday s 98 additional fatalities bring the state to 15,299 deaths as a result of the pandemic, with another 1,228 deaths classified as “probable” COVID-19-related fatalities, according to IDPH data.
Over the last 24 hours, 86,454 test specimens were returned to state laboratories, according to IDPH data.
In all, 12,520,979 tests have been performed in the state since the pandemic began.
The state saw its hospitalization numbers continue to decline on Monday, with 981 currently in intensive care units and 546 of patients on ventilators.