Angel trees are a worldwide tradition in helping families, and specifically kids, during the holiday season. There are various types of programs that do angel tree and donation programs that are similar.

What is an Angel Tree?

An angel tree is the concept of putting a piece of paper that has a child’s name, clothing size, shoe size, needs, and things they may want for Christmas on a tree. People take as many tickets as they want off the tree, and they go shopping for those kids’ Christmas gifts. The kids who qualify for Angel Tree live in households where they most likely cannot afford a Christmas.

There are many different programs that do angel trees or something similar, but the most well-known is The Salvation Army. They partner up with companies such as Walmart to set up their trees and have people shop from there for the kids, though only a few Walmart stores in certain areas have angel trees set up. The Salvation Army has been doing angel trees for over 40 years, “providing new clothing and toys to more than one million children in need each year.” (Salvation Army)

Where else can you go

If there’s not an angel tree set up near you, there are many other organizations or communities that do similar. Churches are known to make donations or have trees similar to angel trees. For example, The Heritage Presbyterian Church has been doing an angel tree “for about 25 years, in one form or another”, says Mrs. Faas, one of the people in charge of the angel tree at her church. Not only do they do an angel tree, they work with organizations “Family Promise” and “Community Helping Hands”, donating four thousand dollars and helping about 800 kids have a happy holiday.