Season of giving
Families find hope, gifts through Salvation Army’s program
The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program enables communities to come to the aid of the less fortunate.
Providing Christmas presents for her son wasn't a priority for a single mother who recently walked into The Salvation Army Center of Hope simply hoping to get groceries from the agency's food pantry.
Food comes first — they had to eat, Jolene Strubberg thought as she talked with a case worker.
But when the agency worker mentioned the Angel Tree program and how it provides gifts for children, Strubberg said she realized something.
"There was just no way I was going to be able to do Christmas for my son. I wouldn't be able to do it," she said.
Strubberg, 40, signed her 12-year-old son up for Angel Tree, and he became one of more than 3,600 children and youths who are represented on the Angel Trees at Penn Square Mall and Quail Springs Mall.
Maj. Charlotte Gargis, associate commander of The Salvation Army Central Oklahoma Area Command, said community members have picked up an estimated 3,645 "angel" tags at the two metro-area malls. Each tag includes the individual Christmas wish lists of children whose parents signed up for the Angel Tree program.Gargis said the trees also contain "Silver Bell" tags which include the Christmas wish lists of metro-area older adults.
Now these gifts items purchased from those lists need to be returned to the malls. Gargis said deadline to get the gifts back to the Angel Trees at the malls is Dec. 10. She said Edmond area residents may deliver their gifts to Edmond Hyundai, 14137 N Broadway Extension, if they wish.
“We want to get the word out to remind people to go shopping and get the items back to us,” Gargis said recently.
She said some people question why the gifts have to be returned in early December, weeks before the Christmas holiday.
The deadline gives Salvation Army staff and volunteers time to get the gifts sorted and distributed to participating families in Oklahoma, Cleveland and Canadian counties. Gift distribution will begin Dec. 16 at the "Angel Tree Workshop" in the former Montgomery Ward store area at Plaza Mayor in south Oklahoma City.
"Our Christmas comes early. We have to get the gifts into the hands of the parents so they can get them under the tree," Gargis said.
'No angel is forgotten'
There are plenty of ways to help make the Angel Tree program a success without picking up an angel tag.
Gargis said some organizations and businesses come to the program's aid by donating money or purchasing items for "forgotten angels."
She said this is her way to describe the angel tags and silver bells tags that are never brought back to the malls. With each tag representing a child or senior adult, those that aren't returned with gifts means a program participant will go without.
Some organizations and businesses host toy drives, take up donations or purchase toy and gift items to ensure that each angel is remembered at Christmastime.
“We depend on the community to ensure that no angel is forgotten or left out,” Gargis said.
Meanwhile, Gargis said another way to aid the cause is to make a donation at one of the "DipJars," a credit-debit card reader, at the Angel Tree areas of the two malls.
Each card reader, also known as a "digital red kettle," may be utilized to make credit-debit card donations in increments of $5, she said.