East Garfield Park families will be able to shop for Christmas gifts for a fraction of their retail price at the Breakthrough Urban Ministries’ FamilyPlex building, 3219 W. Carroll Ave.
Now in its 20th year, the Christmas store will be open next Saturday Dec. 16, at 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Anyone wishing to shop will need to register ahead of time at the FamilyPlex’s front desk at 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Breakthrough is still actively looking for donations, whether it’s money or gifts. The gift drop-off deadline is Dec. 14 at 8:30 p.m.
Originally located in the North Side’s Uptown neighborhood, the shop moved to East Garfield Park in 2000 to serve local children and families. Since then, it expanded to multiple facilities based on or near the intersection of Kedzie and Carroll avenues, offering a range of supportive housing, education, health, economic development and violence prevention programs. As the name suggests, FamilyPlex houses programs for kids and teens, as well as health and fitness programs.
According to Breakthrough spokesperson Lindsey Tollefson, the organization put together the first market back in 2003 to give about 40 families who were enrolled at the youth programs at the time a chance to get nice gifts without having to break the bank.
“It has continued to grow over the last 20 years and now engages 500 participants across Breakthrough programs and families in Garfield Park,” she said.
Tollefson said that residents not in the programs will pay anywhere between $1 to $10 per item. Families participating in Breakthrough’s programs would be able to use “Breakthrough bucks” to get the items for free. Tollefson said that there are many ways program participants can earn the Breakthrough Bucks – for example, people staying at one of Breakthrough’s shelters can earn them by doing chores.
According to the market wish list, Breakthrough is looking for gifts for kids and adults alike. That includes toys, video games, clothing, household appliances, dishes, tool sets, hygiene items and electronics. Anyone interested in donating can bring the items in, buy items off of online Target and Amazon wish lists, buy gift cards that Breakthrough will use to buy items off the list, or make cash donations.
Tollefson said that they hope to have at least 5,000 gifts available at the store. She said that as of Nov. 29, about 15% of the items on the wish lists were purchased.
Unwrapped gifts and gift-wrapping supplies can be dropped off at FamilyPlex at 3219 W. Carroll Ave. on weekdays between 7 a.m. and 8:30 p.m., and on Saturday between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.
For the full wish list for physical, links to online wish lists, information on how to donate money and other details, visit https://breakthrough.org/christmas-store-2023/
