CLEARWATER, Fla. — In a record-breaking year, the Salvation Army in Clearwater helped to coordinate and provide Christmas gifts to 2,241 local children.
The agency’s director of social services, Jilliann Perez, said they received more Angel Tree requests this year than any year in recent history. Last year, they fielded about 1,900 requests.
Perez said that despite the increase in demand, the Salvation Army didn’t have to turn away any qualifying family. In order to submit a child for the Angel Tree program, the child must live in the area, be 12 years old or younger, and the parent must have proof of legal custody.
Marquis Robinson submitted an Angel Tree request for his 8-year-old daughter earlier this year. He said he’s grateful to the community for the help provided this Christmas.
“I only got one child, and she means the world to me,” he said. “So, just to see her happy and excited is more than enough.”
Perez said every Angel Tree tag was taken by a local family or organization willing to fill that child’s Christmas wish list. While there were no unclaimed tags, Perez said a couple hundred were not returned, something that is typical and planned for.
Those unreturned tags are filled by individual toy donations to Salvation Army boxes located at Walmart and other area organizations. Perez said this year they received so many toy donations through drop-off locations that they had no issue filling wish lists for the unreturned Angel Tree tags.
“We were able to fill all of these bags even fuller than we would have been able to in previous years and made sure they got things they wanted,” she said.
Perez said the Salvation Army’s aim is to send each child three substantial Christmas gifts.
“If they come back and they received only maybe one, we have a stockroom of toys we can put into the bags based upon their interests,” she said.
This year’s hail also included hundreds of bikes and helmets, all put together and checked for safety by a team of volunteers.
Angel Tree pickup finishes Thursday at the Salvation Army’s headquarters in Clearwater.
Pickup for those 65+ through the “Silver Bells” program is also taking place Thursday. The program for seniors has been in operation for the last 11 holiday seasons.
Angie Angers
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