The Ventura Community Christmas Shoppe is a special one-day event that serves under-resourced families by providing Christmas toys at no cost to them. The Shoppe is sponsored by local churches that work together to bless these families in need. Parents are invited to shop for high-quality new toys for their children in a holiday gift boutique setting; guests come and choose new toys, games, sporting goods, and electronics.

Throughout November and early December, we collect NEW toys and gifts for children ages 0-17 at participating churches, organizations, and businesses. On the day of the Shoppe, dozens of volunteers provide festivities for the shoppers including photos with Santa, entertainment, hospitality, gift wrapping, and childcare.

The Christmas Shoppe is a great way to bring your congregation or organization together by working towards a common goal of helping families at Christmas time. Most importantly, families are shown the love of Christ, God’s greatest gift of all.

Rather than simply giving families toys we hope their children will like, we give the parents the opportunity to select toys that they know their children will enjoy. This allows parents to feel dignity while receiving help and provides them an opportunity to connect with other people in the community. The support and encouragement these families receive can stay with them throughout the year; the volunteers find they are blessed immensely as well.

Eligibility to attend a Shoppe is based on financial and physical need. Invitations are issued to families by the Christmas Shoppe Team via participating social service and other organizations, including Kids and Families Together, Head Start, Ventura County Public Health, the City of Ventura Housing Authority, Santa Paula and Ventura Schools, and more. Admission to the Christmas Shoppe is by invitation only.

Organizations can contact the Shoppe Team with names of hurting families that would be blessed by selecting toys for their children during Christmas time.

• All new toys for children and teens
• A safe and happy place for parents to shop
• Childcare activities while parents shop
• Festive Christmas music, decorations, and refreshments
• Drawings for big-ticket items (bikes, wagons, computers, etc.)

A Bit of History

The Community Christmas Shoppe began in 2004 as a grassroots church community effort to get toys to families in a loving Christian atmosphere. The first Shoppe was held in the old Oxnard High School girls’ gym locker room. The following year, the nonprofit organization ACTION (Area Churches Taking Initiative on Needs) was born and a partnership between the Community Christmas Shoppe and ACTION began. The Shoppe momentum grew, and the following year there were two Shoppes, eventually expanding to five Shoppes in Ventura County.

Today

Emerging from the past year's difficulties, the Ventura Community Christmas Shoppe committee started 2025 with renewed vigor and ten returning churches. In March, our organizing meeting began with a lot of new faces, vowing to guide the Shoppe through 2025 and beyond. As we move into the toy collection season, we are finalizing our plans for a fantastic Shoppe on the second Saturday in December.

But we need your support! 

• Please keep the Ventura Community Christmas Shoppe in your prayers.
• Donate Toys
• Sign up to volunteer.