Thirty five years ago in Lynchburg VA, Captains Charles and Shirley White were wondering how they were going to serve the thousands of children in their community who were not going to have a Christmas. They had already exhausted their budget on toys and clothing and the idea of children with nothing under the tree haunted them. After much prayer and consideration, they happened upon a card with the picture of an angel. In that moment the concept of a tree bearing a number of tags containing the names and information of needy children came to them and The Salvation Army Angel Tree was born.
In Catawba County, the Angel Tree gifts are distributed through the Catawba County Christmas Bureau. The Christmas bureau is a collaborative effort through which several local organizations work together in providing Christmas to more than 3,000 individuals. “Around 2,500 of these people are children aged 0 -12,” said Captain Michael Harris, Regional Coordinator for the local Salvation Army. “Due to the poor performance of the Angel Tree in 2013 we had to spend three times the amount of money we had budgeted for toys so that each child would get something.”
When asked about 2014, Harris said, “so far I am seeing the weakest return of my five Christmases in Catawba County.” Despite significant work on broadening the scope and availability of Angels, Captain Harris believes that less than half the required amount of Angels will be adopted. Captain Christine Harris said, “I have already made a toy order for our budgeted purchase but... I may have to order a lot more and use money that is already budgeted elsewhere.”
While the official deadline for turning in Angel Tree gifts was Tuesday, December 9th, the Salvation Army will be accepting donations through the end of the week to setup for the Christmas Bureau which starts on Monday, December 15th. The biggest need is for clothing. "Almost all of the clothing we give to the children comes through Angel Tree donations. For many children, this will be the only set of new clothes they will get all year,” informed Captain Christine.
Give the gift of Christmas to a child in need by adopting an Angel from one of the partnering business listed below. Additionally you can purchase a gift and put it in a Walmart “Fill the Truck” container or you can contribute to Catawba County Christmas Bureau partner Toys for Tots. Hickory fire stations will also be accepting old bikes through their Bikes for Tykes program through December 12th.
The Salvation Army Angel Tree locations are:
Walmart Hickory
Walmart Conover
Walmart Granite Falls
Honda cars of Hickory
Broome Insurance
Steve White motors
Frye Regional Medical Center
Valley Hills Mall
OZ Jewelers
Carolina West
Jim Armstrong Subaru
BB&T Bank Viewmont
BB&T Bank Springs Rd
Community One Bank Viewmont
Community One Bank Downtown
Community One Bank Rt 321
Community One Bank Springs Road
Community One Bank Newton
Community One Bank Downtown Newton
Community One Bank Mountain View
Any local Subway restaurant
Any local Salvation Army Family Store
For more information on the Angel Tree, contact the Salvation Army at 828.322.8061. For details about or questions regarding the Bikes for Tykes program, please call 828.323.7420.
