About the
NE Florida Area Command Angel Tree

The Salvation Army Angel Tree program reaches millions of children every year.

If you have an opportunity to bring joy to somebody else's life…why wouldn't you?

Every kid should experience the excitement of receiving a present on Christmas, despite their circumstances.

Making a difference in your community…

The Salvation Army Angel Tree Program has been a tradition since 1979.

Angel Tree serves millions of children every year.

Angel Trees are on-site in shopping malls, corporations, churches and organizations.

Salvation Army Angel Tree volunteers devote millions of hours of their time each year.

Learn how The Salvation Army Angel Tree program and its donors help millions of parents and children in need celebrate Christmas.


	This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 2 Corinthians 9:12

How Angel Tree Works

1

Social service agencies and schools refer families to The Salvation Army for help with Christmas. Participants are interviewed to verify that the family is truly in need.

2

We obtain the name of each child or special needs adults in the family and a list of desired Christmas gifts. Verification is made to ensure that the family is not receiving duplicate services from another agency.

3

Angel tags are printed for each individual and placed on Salvation Army Angel Trees at area malls and in local companies and organizations.

4

Generous Donors select Angels, purchase gifts, and return them to the Angel Tree by the given deadline on each tag.

5

Upon their return, the gifts are taken to a Salvation Army Christmas Distribution Center for pickup by the Angel families.

6

During the seven days prior to Christmas Eve, families pick up their gifts.

3

Angel tags are printed for each individual and placed on Salvation Army Angel Trees at area malls and in local companies and organizations.

4

Generous Donors select Angels, purchase gifts, and return them to the Angel Tree by the given deadline on each tag.

5

Upon their return, the gifts are taken to a Salvation Army Christmas Distribution Center for pickup by the Angel families.

6

During the seven days prior to Christmas Eve, families pick up their gifts.

5

Upon their return, the gifts are taken to a Salvation Army Christmas Distribution Center for pickup by the Angel families.

6

During the seven days prior to Christmas Eve, families pick up their gifts.

A History Of Community Involvement

Along with the familiar Red Kettles, the Angel Tree program is one of The Salvation Army's highest profile Christmas efforts. Angel Tree was created by The Salvation Army in 1979 by Majors Charles and Shirley White when they worked with a Lynchburg, Virginia shopping mall to provide clothing and toys for children at Christmas time.

The program got its name because the Whites identified the wishes of local children by writing their gift needs on Hallmark greeting cards that featured pictures of angels. They placed the cards on a Christmas tree at the mall to allow shoppers to select children to help. Thanks to the Whites, who were assigned by The Army to the Lynchburg area at the time, more than 700 children had a brighter Christmas that first year.

Three years later, when the Whites were transferred to Nashville, Tennessee, Angel Tree was launched in the Music City. WSM radio, which airs the Grand Ol' Opry, came on board that year as the first Angel Tree co-sponsor in the U.S.

Because of the on-air promotion on WSM in Nashville, as well as national publicity on CNN and the Larry King Show, news of Angel Tree spread across the country like wildfire.

The program includes Angel Trees in local shopping malls and on-site at area corporations, churches and organizations. The local communities have fully supported the Angel Tree program, making it possible to help numerous children and seniors each year.