The Salvation Army Angel Trees will begin appearing in the Danville and Harrodsburg Walmarts beginning Oct. 19. And this year, Walmart has set up a new way for shoppers to help support the Army’s annual children’s Christmas gift program without stepping into the store.

Nationwide, the Registry for Good has been added to Walmart’s list of registry services, and the local Salvation Army has been verified as a recipient, said Salvation Army Lieutenant Lindsey Galabeas.

“Walmart is allowing nonprofits to have a registry site,” Galabeas said. “It’s like shopping for baby and wedding showers.”

The Danville Salvation Army serves residents of Boyle, Casey Garrard, Lincoln and Mercer counties she said. Galabeas said she expects there to be at least 400 children on the Angel Trees during this pandemic year. In 2008, there were about 1,000 children in need, she added.

Traditionally, people could select an Angel tag off of one of the Angel Trees and purchase gifts of shoes, clothing and toys that the child requested.

With the registry in place, someone can purchase a Christmas gift for a child but isn’t responsible for buying everything on the child’s list, Galabeas said. This makes it affordable for more people to participate in the Angel Tree program, she added.

Plus, it gives people the option of shopping online for the program without stepping into Walmart during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Having an Angel Tree gift registry also allows the Salvation Army to more easily fulfill requests, especially for the older children, Galabeas said. 

Older children on the Angel Tree are often not picked up by those who want to purchase Christmas gifts. “The older kids don’t want Barbie dolls anymore.” But the kids do appreciate art sets and even hair styling things for older girls, she said. “We have gaps when it comes to filling requests from the older kids.”

Having a registry of specific needs lets the Salvation Army fill those gaps, she added. 

Being able to participate in Walmart’s Registry for Good, “There’s no greater gift to say exactly what we need.”

Galabeas said she or other Salvation Army volunteers will go to the Danville Walmart a few times every week and pick up gifts that were purchased through the registry, and ones that individuals bought while  shopping in the store for the Angel Tree program. The deadline to purchase gifts and return them to the Salvation Army is Dec. 7.

When shopping for the Salvation Army Angel Tree through Walmart Registry for Good, go to: 

https://www.walmart.com/registry/registryforgood/welcome and search for Salvation Army, Danville KY.