Central Indiana Angel Tree Distribution Kicks Off
Indianapolis - Tuesday, December 13 marks the first of five distribution days for The Salvation Army of Central Indiana's expansive Angel Tree program, which will serve around 5,000 children from across the metro Indy area this Christmas.
Distribution space for Tuesday through Friday has been generously donated by the Angel Tree title sponsor, MAVPAK, and is located at one of the company's Indianapolis warehouses at 5110 W. 74th Street.
The drive thru model first introduced in 2020 continues to be the most effective way to ensure that parents can quickly collect the gifts without waiting in long lines. This system allows families picking up gifts to remain in their vehicles while volunteers in retrieve each Angel's bag from inside and load them into the waiting cars.
On Saturday, December 17 the Carmel United Methodist Church is hosting a distribution for 200 Hamilton County families enrolled in the Angel Tree program. These families will also be arriving at appointed times to ensure that they can receive their gifts without long wait times. Carmel UMC is located at 621 S. Rangeline Road near Carmel City Center.
Angel Tree of Central Indiana distribution schedule:
December 13: 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (Indy)
December 14: 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (Indy)
December 15: 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (Indy)
December 16: 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Indy)
December 17: 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (Carmel)
Families must financially qualify for the Angel Tree program. Back in October, The Salvation Army sat down with parents to determine their child's Christmas wishes and create a list of needs, like diapers, winter clothing, or shoes. Angels were then made available for "adoption" online by donors. Angel Tree tags hanging of special trees at local malls, select business locations, and at the Indiana Historical Society's Festival of Trees featured Angel tags with easily scanned QR codes to quickly connect donors with lists of Angels to adopt.
Many local companies, churches, and other organizations also gave back to the community by adopting large numbers of Angels. The top adopter for 2022 was MAVPAK, which adopted and shopped for 500 Angels. Flexware Innovation adopted an additional 360 in Indianapolis and 100 for The Salvation Army's Angel Tree program in Valparaiso. More than half of the Angels available this year were adopted by organizations excited for an opportunity to make Christmas special for local children in need.
All returned gifts from The Salvation Army's Angel Tree donors have undergone extensive quality checks by volunteers and are now ready to go home and make Christmas special for 5,000 local children. Volunteers also helped to shop for "Forgotten Angels" whose bags were never returned. Thanks to cash donations to the Angel Tree program, toys and clothing donated by the Circle City Toy Run and Pacers, and books given by additional donors, every Angel will have gifts under the tree on Christmas morning.
It takes thousands of donors and volunteers to make Angel Tree possible. There is still time to sign up and volunteer. Just visit SalvationArmyIndiana.org/AngelTree for more information.