To ensure every Evanston family gets to celebrate this holiday season, Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl encourages all community members to participate in the eighth annual Holiday Food & Toy Drive. Community members can help local families in need by providing food, toys and financial donations through Friday, December 9.
The City is currently collecting new, unwrapped toys that encourage physical and/or social activities, in addition to staple food items for holiday meals, including stuffing, green beans, yams, mac and cheese, corn and corn bread mix. Community members can drop off items at various City locations, including:
- Morton Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave.
- Main Evanston Public Library, 1703 Orrington Ave.
- North Branch library, 2026 Central St.
- Chicago Avenue/Main Street Branch library, 900 Chicago Ave., Suite 102
- Robert Crown Community Center, 1701 Main St.
- Chandler-Newberger Community Center, 1028 Central St.
- Evanston Ecology Center, 2024 McCormick Blvd.
- Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center, 1655 Foster St.
- Gibbs-Morrison Cultural Center, 1823 Church St.
- Levy Senior Center, 300 Dodge Ave.
- Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St.
- Evanston Police Station, 1454 Elmwood Ave.
- All five Evanston fire stations
For drop-off location hours, visit cityofevanston.org/holidaydonation or call/text 847-448-4311.
Tax-deductible financial donations can also be made online or by mail to purchase additional items. To submit your donation quickly and securely online, visit cityofevanston.org/holidaydonation. Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover credit cards are accepted. For mail-in donations, checks should be made payable to “City of Evanston Holiday Giving,” and mailed to Parks, Recreation and Community Services Dept., 2100 Ridge Ave., Evanston, IL 60201.
On Friday, December 16, community members can also donate their time by volunteering during the holiday basket giveaway event. To register online, visit VolunteerEvanston.org.
To increase community outreach, the City has partnered with Toys for Tots, the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve program that aims to collect and distribute new, unwrapped toys to less fortunate children in local communities across the U.S. Toys donated at any of the Evanston Toys for Tots locations will be donated to the Mayor’s Holiday Food & Toy Drive. To learn more about Toys for Tots and to search for toy drop-off locations, visit fort-sheridan-il.toysfortots.org.
To learn more about the Holiday Food & Toy Drive, visit cityofevanston.org/holidaydonation or contact Ken Cherry at 847-448-4311. For convenience, residents may simply dial 3-1-1 in Evanston.