Welcome to the
McAllen / Hidalgo County Online Angel Tree

Making a difference in your community…

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

Angel Tree serves over 2,000 children in the Hidalgo County area every year!

Angel Trees are on-site in La Plaza Mall, Walmart, and various corporations, churches and organizations.

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

Enjoy getting to know what makes our program so special! From the families who receive HOPE to the Army of volunteers it takes to make it happen!


	"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

Our online registration is opened to the public in September. Families applying provide documentation that they live in Hidalgo County, have guardianship, and exhibit a true need for help this Christmas.

2

We obtain the name of each child or special needs adult in the family and a list of desired Christmas gifts, and verify 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. PLEASE RETURN ALL ANGELS BY DEC. 10TH, 2024.

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. PLEASE RETURN ALL ANGELS BY DEC. 10TH, 2024.

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.

In Hidalgo County, the program includes Angel Trees in La Plaza Mall, Walmart, and on-site at more than 30 area corporations, churches, and organizations. The RGV has fully supported the Angel Tree program, making it possible to help more than 2000 children and seniors each year!

Adopt an Angel