Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will deliver toys to children at the Pediatric AIDS/HIV Care Center in the Wright House, located at 450 M Street, NW, Tuesday, Dec. 23, at 10:00 a.m. "Most of these children are the most innocent victims of the one kind of infection we can prevent - mother-to-child HIV infection," Norton said. "For decades, no child has had to be born with HIV, but still they are. Visiting these children with some toys can only encourage me to do more to see to it that no child in this city is born with this preventable disease," she added. "In a city where adults with HIV are often shunned, the virus is an intolerable burden on children. We need to wrap our arms around them everyday, but especially at Christmas."

The Pediatric Care Center provides therapy and after school recreation to families and children living with HIV/AIDS. Following her annual Capitol Hill Christmas Party for Underprivileged Children, Norton also delivers some of the toys to individual families, looking especially for those who are sometimes overlooked. She learned that the Care Center was having trouble finding gifts. "Let's bring Christmas to the kids who couldn't come to us for some fun last week," Norton said.

The Congresswoman provided toys and warm clothing to more than 250 children at her Christmas party last week, and parents and teachers who could not attend the party later picked up gifts from the Congresswoman's District office. Working with the Covenant House of Washington, Norton delivered gifts donated by generous businesses, organizations, and individuals, including Amtrak, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, Chartered Health, Chevy Chase Bank, Citi, Geico, LEAP LLC, Target, and Washington Gas. Norton was especially grateful that donors gave more this year than last year, even in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

To protect the children's privacy, the media is asked not to photograph the children's faces.