FEED YOUR HEAD WITH BOOKS FOR CHRISTMAS WITH ANGEL TREE
Angel Tree is alive and well for Christmas!
Donations for Angel Tree are coming in, with 141 new children’s books provided as gifts by book consultant Chris Cadieux in early October.
Books range from infancy up to 12 years old, including Find the Duck, Baby’s Very First Bus Book, the Lightning Girl series, and Panda in the Park.
“I wanted to do something for kids that didn’t have anything,” Cadieux said. “As a consultant, I was able to get a bunch of them. I got some free ones too. I had a lot of fun picking out these books and getting as much as I could for the money.”
Angel Tree is a giving program to kids 12 and under in which people or companies can adopt angels and shop for them to provide Christmas gifts. Sign up for kids to participate is open now and ends on Oct. 30. Angels can be adopted until Nov. 30.
Kids provide lists of things they’d like after their families are interviewed to gauge need. Those lists are then picked by adopters. Companies may adopt 100 angels or more, or individuals may pick just one angel. The gifts are then provided around Christmastime.
“The best part is all of us should give to those who are marginalized and don’t have a lot,” Cadieux, who had never given to The Salvation Army before the $900 in books, said. “In my mind, I feel like that’s what we’re supposed to do. I feel with folks like that there is a certain amount of responsibility. In my own way, I try to help.”
Angel Tree is a signature part of The Salvation Army.
“We’re actually meeting a real need for a real person and helping to make their Christmas joyful and wonderful,” said Lt. Col. Collette Webster, who is overseeing the regional development of Angel Tree.
“You think of the kids as the angels. We are serving the angels,” Lt. Col. Webster said. “But, also the people who come to adopt an angel, they’re an angel too because they are helping these kids that are in need.
“I can’t tell you how many stories who have come from people who adopt angels and tell us why they picked the angel they picked,” Lt. Col. Webster said. “Some of them have said things like, ‘I lost my child when he was 3 years old.’ So, they pick a 3-year-old male because it helps them to heal, connect and to feel part of a bigger picture.”
For inquiries or to make a donation, please contact Lynn Agnew, Midland Division Angel Tree Coordinator, at 314-646-3141 or lynn.agnew@usc.salvationarmy.org.