Houston Children's Charity

"This is a great resource for parents how need a little help making ends meet when it comes to backpacks for school, gifts for Christmas, and beds for there kids. Also a great place to donate time or money cause you never know if you might need help."

"I was VERY disappointed with the toy giveaway. The doors didn't open until 9am but we were in line at 5am. The letter said 3 toys per child. We got to the counter and they said it's 2 toys per child. My husband showed them the letter stating 3 toys per child. The man said yes it says that but it's 2 toys per child. NO ONE WANTS TO STAND IN A RIDICULOUS LONG LINE JUST TO RECEIVE 2 TOYS. THAT'S ABSURD. HE SHOULD HAVE HONORED WHAT THE LETTER STATED. THAT'S VERY MISLEADING BECAUSE I WOULDN'T STAND IN THAT LINE FOR ONLY 2 TOYS. KEEP YOUR WORD TO FAMILIES. YOU RECEIVE FUNDING AND DONATIONS TO REALLY HELP FAMILIES IN NEED."

"I have been blessed by this charity multiple times! I thank them. Just go online and fill out paperwork and send in required documents. Might take a few months, but they will contact you!"

"WORST EXPERIENCE EVER I really wish I had good things to say. Maybe they really do help people but this is the SECOND year I have tried to get gifts for my kids for Christmas through them and it has just been awful to the point where I didn't even get any. Last year I waited for over 2 hours in a line, in the cold and never even made it into the Toyota Center building. The line was so long it wrapped around three sides of the block of the Toyota Center and then continue down the third side down to the next block. I don't know how far it went but the line was as far as the eye could see. It's confusing to me why book a place as big as a Toyota Center if you're not going to allow people to wait inside. It is 100 times worse than waiting at the DPS. Also, I had to pay for parking and bring my own bags for the toys. This year, I arrived in my vehicle at 10:00 am. The card said not to come early and to get there at 10:30. So I figured a few minutes wouldn't hurt because it was raining. I'm in the right place on the right street and was directed by police to go to the end of the line "somewhere down there". I get "there" and continue to be redirected by police (mind you I was asking them if this was correct and all of them said yes) so I ask a lady out there who wasn't with police but just seemed like she knew what was going on and she tells me I am in the wrong line. That police were mixed up and there was another toy drive that police were redirecting everybody to. Now I am almost out of gas because I have spent 2 hours driving around and waiting in downtown. It is ridiculous. No signs showing where to go, extremely vague instructions like "check in on Polk St" which happens to span THE LENGTH OF DOWNTOWN, police are not really assisting with traffic, both times it actually cost me money and neither time did I leave with toys. Whoever coordinates these events seriously needs to be trained or attend their own event as a recipient so they can see the madness they put everyone through. The police had no idea where to send people, there was an accident because they had stopped directing traffic and were either huddled together in the middle of a blocked road or in their vehicles, and everyone is so panicked to make sure they get their gifts that they won't even let you over to leave if you no longer want to participate in this circus. (I literally tore up my postcard because I was just so done with the whole thing.) Do I need gifts for my children? Yes. Do I want to get sick waiting in a line outside in the cold to get those gifts? No! Do I want to risk getting into an accident or worse? No! If I have to explain to my children that they won't get any Christmas gifts this year because Mommy can't afford it then that's what I'm going to have to do. Thanks HCC for the stress, loss of income from not getting to work on time (I work 2 jobs and do not have a day off so this cost me more than the last little bit of gas I had which was the same last year,) anxiety/panic attack, and still not having any Christmas gifts for my children."

"I am leaving 2 stars, because Houston Children's Charity did provide gifts for my children to have for Christmas. But, this experience of how I got them was horrific! To make a very long story short, I’ll hit on key points. Thousands of us stood outside in the cold and rain of George R Brown Convention Center for hours, that could have easily provided shelter for us. I was there from 10am -5 pm and was outside from 10-4 on one of the coldest days in Houston. My fingers were numb and my body ached by the time I got inside, but all I could think about were my kids. So, I braved the weather. When we got inside the building, specifically the area where you’d “choose” the gifts you wanted your kids to have. Marines were there to greet you and explain how at the sound of their bull horn a group of let’s say 40 could run towards the tables and have 10 minutes to pick 3 gifts per child. If you needed help shopping for your kids, you could raise your hand and ask for help. Now, I have not one, not two, but 3 disabled kids. Shopping for them takes time and I really needed help. No one came to help me after I raised my hand. Oh, the bikes and other large gifts were only given if you were chosen by one of the marines to answer a trivia question. Like, pick a number 1-10. But, you’d only get to answer the question if you were so fortunate to be chosen. So, try to understand that we are the less unfortunate and needing assistance, but we were treated like seals begging for fish because we needed help. Did we deserve to be outside in inclement weather because we needed help. Then we had to run amongst others to sort through tables of toys in 10 minutes. Once they blew the horn again, your time to shop was over, in which you were whisked seats towards the checkout counter. I tried to explain to volunteer as I was walking away from the last table that I have disabled kids and it’s hard to shop for them. He said they’re gonna yell at me if you’re still over after your time you gotta go checkout. A long walk to my car that ended in me paying 27 dollars for parking was the icing on the cake. So, we’re already in tough situation financially but we had to pay for parking too! Next year if I need help and I pray that I do not. I will not ask this organization. I honestly hope that I can help someone else’s family for the holiday, and if I do they will never be treated the way I was to get the help."