Salvation Army announces Angel Tree, kettle kick-off dates

Wyandot County Salvation Army has announced its 2012 Angel Tree and kettle drive for the holiday season.
Families in need of assistance may sign up for the Angel Tree at Trinity Evangelical United Methodist Church, 108 Malabar Drive, Upper Sandusky, from Monday through Dec. 1. Sign-up will be available from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Monday through Saturday, except for Thanksgiving Day.
The Angel Tree is for children ages birth to 18.
Registration also is open for food baskets from the Christian Food Center. There is no age limit for the baskets.
Individuals who are interested in purchasing gifts for children may begin picking up names from the Angel Tree on Monday. The Salvation Army asks that all gifts are returned to Trinity Evangelical UMC by Dec. 7.
Gift distribution will take place from 3-7 p.m. Dec. 12 at the church.
In 2011, 470 children were assisted through the Angel Tree and 925 people received food assistance.
“Again this year, we moved the dates up to accommodate those individuals who wish to shop for Angel Tree gifts on Black Friday,” Salvation Army board chairman Jason Fagan said in a written statement. “We will also have angels placed on the tree with their siblings. This will enable people wishing to purchase for a family the option of doing so. For people who are only interested in shopping for one child, they can simply choose a child (without) siblings from the tree.”
The Salvation Army also is looking for volunteers to ring the bell for its annual kettle drive Dec. 7-9 and Dec. 14-16. Groups, families, businesses and organizations all may volunteer to spend a day ringing the bells for the drive.
“Many have already committed, but we are still in need of additional help,” Fagan said. “We will accommodate groups wanting to help, but (are) unable to cover an entire day.
“Many communities employ seasonal help to ring the bells, but we are a volunteer board,” he added. “Therefore, we rely solely on the generosity of the community to man the kettles. This has enabled us to keep more funding in Wyandot County for assistance by not paying wages for people to ring the bells.”
Fagan said the kettle drive is important to the local Salvation Army and residents of Wyandot County because it generates funds for the county.
“We use the donations to assist families during the holiday season — (for example) the Angel Tree — and the donations are also used in the funding calculation that determines our yearly budget,” Fagan said. “This budget is what we rely on to provide residents with emergency assistance in areas such as food, shelter, prescriptions, transportation and utilities throughout the year. Without a successful kettle drive, we would struggle to meet the needs of residents in our county.”
Those interested in volunteering to help this year may call Fagan at 419-310-1098.

Posted by Daily Chief on November 15, 2012. Filed under LifeStyles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry