Two U-Hauls full of presents pulled up to a Southeast neighborhood that was in for a big surprise Thursday morning.
Residents in the area of Woodland Terrace opened their doors to Santa-hat-wearing volunteers bearing gifts on the other side. "Greetings on behalf of the mayor-elect. We'd like to give you some presents for Christmas for the kids!"
Mayor-Elect Vincent Gray and his elves passed out presents to kids all over the District. In fact, they stopped in each quadrant.
Volunteers were at it as early as 9 a.m., sorting hundreds of gifts into large boxes, separating the presents between gender and age. "Three to five years old" and "pass me the Jenga!" they yelled.
The crew of gift givers traveled from Southeast to Lincoln Heights and Richardson Dwellings in Northeast. Volunteers simply knocked on doors asking, "Have any young kids?" Some children who answered the door got an early taste of Christmas, receiving gifts on the spot.
The mayor-elect got some laughter out of the crowd, making jokes with one child who barely reached Gray at knee level.
"What's your name?"
"Zion."
"How old are you... I thought you were about 15, man!"
The child walked off with a gift and a pat on the head from Gray. "Well, Merry Christmas to you," he said.
The gift-giving didn't stop there. The crew of merrymakers also made it to the Park Morton Housing Complex in Northwest before making their last stop at the family shelter on the campus of the old D.C. General.
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