The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

Angel Trees are an ideal way for groups, companies and even office buildings, to bring some smiles to a few unfortunate kids in their community this holiday season. Everyone knows that many families struggle throughout the year and it's especially hard during the holiday season. Many parents want to give their kids a gift but they can't. An Angel Tree at your business will help.

An Angel Tree is very simple. You place a Christmas tree in a heavy traffic area such as the front lobby of your office or at the entrance to the cafeteria in your building. The tree is decorated with lights, bulbs and with paper angels. Each angel has either "Boy" or "Girl" written on the back along with an age range such as 6 - 8 years or 10 - 12 years. No names are ever used.

People take one of the angels and buy a gift for that kid. The wrapped gift is then placed underneath the tree with the angel taped to it for sorting, where it will be given to a local charity that will pass it on to a needy kid. You will need to find a local charity that distributes gifts and ask them when their deadline is.

You want to start your Angel Tree immediately after Thanksgiving and end it a few days before the charity's deadline. This will give you enough time to deliver the gifts and the charity can sort them.

Businesses can also invite customers and suppliers to participate by adding it to their next newsletter or by sending an email. Posters and notices can be placed around the building to remind people to buy that extra gift when they are out doing their own shopping. Sending out reminders just before the deadline is a great way to encourage last minute shoppers to get going.

For security reasons, you may want to remove the gifts each night and store them in a safe place. For office buildings, have the gifts delivered to a secured location. You can decorate the bottom of the Angel Tree with empty boxes that have been wrapped.

Immediately after the deadline, let everyone know how many gifts were collected. A poster or email will help bring a little good cheer to the people who gave as well.

What To Do With The KidsR is the website that adults go to when they want to know what to do with their kids. You can find angels to download at www.whattodowiththekids.com.