Longshoreman Dave Kaufman -- a.k.a. Santa -- was one of ILWU Local 13's volunteers who gave toys to nearly 2,000 children. (Click the photo to read the article in the Los Angeles Times.)
Several times, the small boy at the union toy giveaway looked over his shoulder at Steve Roldan and then back at the Hot Wheels V-Drop Super Velocity Track Set.
“Am I going to be able to keep this?” the boy asked. “Is this really mine?”
The longshoreman knew how the child felt. The 51-year-old had handed back his own prized possession, the first new car he’d ever bought, after work at the San Pedro docks dwindled and the car payments became to much to handle.
“If I had a Christmas wish, it would be to see more ships in this harbor,” Roldan said. “People having the money to buy things for their families. It would be to see more work for everyone.”