Angel Tree

I became involved in Angel tree many, many years ago when we got 2 angels as part of a work group. When we were no longer affiliated with that company I missed shopping for angels and reached out to the PG County Salvation army directly. I had initially planned to take and shop for my 2 angels as usual. However, once I became involved, I realized how great the need truly was. I recruited a few of my coworkers and bookclub ladies to take a few kids. That year we were just trying to get to the minimum needed for the Salvation Army to come pick the gifts up. We barely made the 40 angels threshold that year.

I also volunteered in the warehouse and helped with the last-minute packing of bags for unadopted angels. That was back in 2015, I think.

The PG County command merged with the DC command for this project and the scope completely changed. Instead of a small warehouse where the program would service hundreds of kids the new warehouse would service 6000 children in the National Capital area.

I began casting a wider net and the number of friends who participated grew. Eventually the HOA in my neighborhood became involved and we were able to recruit neighbors to be sponsors. Fast forward to this year and we are now one of the largest non-corporate sponsor group, providing gifts for 285 kids. Watching my home fill up with doll houses, bicycles, tablets, clothes, and all manner of things the kids requested brings me tremendous joy.

Gift giving is my love language. So a project that allows me to facilitate hundreds of gifts speaks directly to my soul and though it is a lot of work I look forward to Angel season each year.

This year was unique in that for the first-time we received donations from several companies. Having these toys, baseballs, and coloring books was so important because it allowed us to add extra gifts to bags and to pack bags for kids who were not adopted. I can’t thank Art Creativity and Aceletiqs enough for their generosity.

I stopped by the main warehouse yesterday and was given a tour. They have expanded the number of kids serviced to 7,300. I am in awe of the scope of this project and of the incredible generosity it takes to pull this off year after year. I am so grateful for the small part we pay in this important project. Thanks again to all my coworkers, neighbors, family, and friends who participate by sponsoring kids, show up to help sort and bag gifts, do last minute store runs, and all the other countless ways people support and value this project that is so dear to my heart.