MOUNT GREENWOOD — A fire truck will serve as Santa's sleigh from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Sunday as Christmas Without Cancer delivers gifts to three families fighting the disease.
A Chicago firefighter and two children in the 19th Ward will be visited by a group of volunteers led by the fire truck from Mount Greenwood, said Gerri Neylon, a nurse at Advocate Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn.
Neylon is a radiation oncology nurse at the suburban hospital and founded the charity in 2003. And while the charity will publicly reach out these three families Sunday, Neylon said her volunteers expect to quietly help dozens more this holiday season.
"There is always someone that is willing to help, and that's the beauty of this whole thing," Neylon said Thursday.
Besides the fire truck, the entourage will also include Santa Claus, Moraine Valley Community College fire instructors and graduating cadets as well as the choir from Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School singing Christmas carols.
Neylon said the gifts include needed items, such as cash, gift cards, medications, tuition payments and other essentials. The families typically accept the gifts but wait until Christmas to open them, she said.
"You know what I have had a lot of requests for this year is people need help with their COBRA insurance," Neylon said. "It just breaks my heart."
Neylon meets some families through her job at the hospital. Others she hears about from friends or through the roughly 10 volunteers that regularly help out with the charity.
All donations are slated for families living on the Far Southwest Side or in the nearby suburbs. And money is raised through an annual 5K race, a charity trip to a Windy City Thunderbolts game and other fundraisers throughout the year.
"We have some awesome families that really need our help," said Neylon, an Evergreen Park resident. "It gets bigger every year."
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