(All photos by WSB photojournalist Christopher Boffoli)
Meet Bishop Deborah Dinkins from Restoration Worship Center, which has services at High Point Community Center noon-2 pm every Sunday. Bishop Dinkins and church volunteers coordinated the HPCC toy distribution that went awry a week ago because a promised delivery didn’t come – then the call went out to see if they could make it happen today – and a few hours ago, they did, with the help of many WSB’ers and generous folks from all over the area. Look at just one table laden with donated toys, in a room that was full of them:

Families went into the room in small groups – and the kids made their choices:

Not only did they serve the dozens of families who crowded into the community center this afternoon, but church volunteer Tina Taylor (at left in the photo below) told us that they shared some of the donations with three other churches (1 of those churches alone, she said, was helping 80 more families) – and gave four bags to kids in the HPCC gym whose parents, the youth told church volunteers, were hesitant to sign up to be on the list for toys.

They repeatedly expressed their gratitude to everyone who reached out to help. One week ago, they weren’t sure they would be able to help hundreds of families have a merry Christmas – then, both Bishop Dinkins and volunteer Taylor said, there was “a miracle.”

(If you’re still looking for places to give to – we know there are Giving Trees still up all around West Seattle – the one for Hickman House at CAPERS in The Junction, for example, will be waiting through Christmas Eve.)