El Paso Motorcycle Coalition passes out Christmas toys

It may have been the last place anyone expected to see bikers Christmas morning, but the first thing on the minds of the members of the El Paso Motorcycle Coalition was passing out toys to children.

“They flew her out here by herself and I was a nervous wreck,” Deming mom Deana Magana said. Her 4-year-old daughter was flown in Christmas Eve after a cough swelled up her tonsils and tongue. The helicopter pilots didn’t let the little girl lose her Christmas spirit.

“They told her let’s go look for Santa Claus … let’s try to find Santa Claus,” Magana said about the flight to El Paso.

“It’s an honor and privilege for parents to open their hospital rooms and let us visit their children,” Mrs. Claus said. She and Santa went room to room not only visiting but delivering age-specific gifts.

This year was the first time the hospital and the coalition have joined together.

“If anything it makes them feel a whole lot better and hopefully some of them can get better and get to go home soon,” Marco Marquez from Providence Children’s said.

Kids of all ages were given gifts to enjoy, but it wasn’t just them who were grateful.

“It means a lot because family’s back home,” Magana said. Her daughter was given a tea set and a few Disney princess dolls.

Not quite a sleigh showing up at the hospital on motorcycles but they made spirits bright regardless.

Co-chairman Ryan La Barbera said the coalition has been together for 32 years. They have been passing gifts out on Christmas morning the last 31 years. The group’s November toy run is what makes passing out gifts on Christmas possible.