Dozens of volunteers with 'Bless the Block' help bring Christmas gifts to west Louisville residents

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- With Christmas about 2½ weeks away, many people are rushing to get everything check off their shopping lists.

A new Louisville organization is focusing on west Louisville to make sure every child in the area has a merry holiday season.

TEN20 Craft Brewery in Butchertown transformed into a makeshift Santa’s workshop on Sunday as part of Change Today, Change Tomorrow's "Bless the Block" initiative.

Dozens of volunteers kept busy, making sure children in west Louisville get the presents they asked for thanks to $40,000 in donations.

"What they did was allow for us to be able to go out and buy gifts, clothes, board games, puzzles, books, for individuals in the west end who request these gifts," said Taylor Ryan, who organized "Bless the Block."

Change Today, Change Tomorrow, which started in September 2019, asked families to fill out a form of what their children want for Christmas. More than 300 requests from families came in, meaning that more than 1,000 children will have something under the tree this year.

Because indoor services at the brewery are temporarily closed, Change Today, Change Tomorrow volunteers were able to spread out and sort out who gets what.

"We just go through and we make sure each child gets two toys," volunteer Rebecca Pattillo said. "Sometimes they request sensory toys, especially if they are younger or if they are on the spectrum. It’s all ages. Today, I have packaged things for newborns all the way up to 17-year-olds.”

Volunteers work on 'Bless the Block' initiative — TEN20 Craft Brewery in Butchertown transformed into a makeshift Santa’s workshop on Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020, as part of Change Today, Change Tomorrow's "Bless the Block" initiative.

Each day, the group will focus on a certain neighborhood in west Louisville. Sunday's boxes will be delivered to residents of the Shawnee neighborhood.

Many of the gifts focus on representing minorities and their backgrounds. With everything that has gone on in Louisville in 2020, volunteers said it’s more important than ever for children to know they are not overlooked or forgotten.

"It is so detrimental to our neighborhoods and what is going on, not only with the global pandemic but also with the racial injustice we are fighting in our own city," Ryan said. "I think next year we will definitely have a bigger plan. We're going 1,000 children this year, so of course our next year's goal will be 2,000 children."