Dear Editor,

I would like to encourage everyone to pick a child from the Salvation Army Angel Tree and shop for them for Christmas. 

I handled the Angel Tree Program at FKI Logistex (Intelligrated/Honeywell) until I left there in 2003. With the stresses of the holiday season, I often asked myself if my efforts mattered.

I’m so proud that my co-workers always made sure I never had to return a single angel to the program without a gift of toys and/or clothing. 

The program is designed to be completely anonymous. The Salvation Army does an excellent job of protecting that information on both sides.

Each year, as we got our batch for tags with the information on them, I noticed a pair of unique girls’ names we seemed to get each and every year. Those names stay with me in my memory to this day.

Several years later my husband and I were cleaning out a house in extremely run down condition in preparation for it being sold. The drafty old house was in need of so many repairs. Conditions were so bad, my husband’s foot went through the floorboard as we entered the kitchen door.

In the pile of discarded items to be taken out of the house, were two worn-out backpacks with the names of those girls written in black magic marker. From the condition of the home they had lived in, I could tell they needed everything we had done for them and more.

My heart sank as I recalled my work with the Angel Tree Program. I was thankful of every moment spent finding co-workers to take care of the children and even shopping to be worth every effort.

If you can, I encourage you to select an Angel from the various locations around town. If that is not something you can do, I encourage your family to schedule an evening ringing the bell in support of the work of the Salvation Army. 

You will be truly blessed. I promise!

Carmen Hampton 

Danville