The Angel Tree Program: Helping the Angels of Fair Grove Spread Their Wings and Soar
January 13, 2022
High school band and choir members (Alivia Kimbriel, Hannah Bruner, Matthew Cockroft, Calvin Zuch, Nicolas Hamp, Lydia Engel, Alex Bates, Easton Beltz, and Hadison Wingo) at a store buying supplies for families in the Angel Tree Program.
For the duration of early December, Katie Fender and Lisa Frank have been working nonstop to try and ensure students at Fair Grove can expect gifts this 2021 Christmas season.
The Angel Tree Program functions as a Christmas-based donation program that Fair Grove hosts each holiday season. Fender, the main teacher running the Angel Tree Program this year, has been swamped with calls from people both signing up for the donations and offering to help.
The Angel Tree program has been run by Frank in the past, however, the leadership position has been handed off recently. “Ms. Fender is handling a lot of it this year. I’ve just been the one who’s done it for the past 12 years,” Frank explained. While Frank is no longer holding the head position, she continues to help in many ways and is currently handling a lot of the physical donations being moved around.
While always welcoming the help, the Angel Tree program doesn’t just accept random donations or offerings. To ensure that all of the kids get what they need and what they would like, they have put in place a system. Firstly, it starts with a family who signs up for the program and lists the things they would like to receive; these things are often types of clothing, food, and toys. They are encouraged to list things such as their favorite colors and flavors to make sure they love what they receive. After this has happened, their request is then assigned to a “foster family” who then go out and purchase things that are listed for the family or child.
It’s not just the Fair Grove families that help with the program; some of the children’s fellow students, especially those in the middle school, also lend a helping hand to support their classmates. “Fair Grove Middle School Student Council has helped tremendously with the Angel Tree this year. They went grocery shopping and organized food and gift distribution,” Fender explained.
With the end of this Christmas holiday season, the program will now be closed until the next holiday season.