Mary Beth Fisher
It is clear the weather is changing, and that is the first clue that the holidays are not far behind. This year we will continue the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program that was started eight years ago. As a young community we were well aware of how blessed we were and that there were definite opportunities to share our blessings in the surrounding communities. Mary Kim, who has since moved back east, and I discussed all the activities and charities all of us had supported in the past in our previous communities. We knew even though we had all moved to this unique spot in the desert we had the same generous hearts, and we needed to find a place to give locally that would make a difference. Mary and I worked with the Salvation Army to get the program started, and Ann White was critical to the success of the program over the years by lending her organizational skills to us. George and I donated the large Christmas trees and others donated tree lights and we placed all those wishes on the trees. Mary Kim coordinated the project until her move.
We began our project with 75 wishes and progressed over the years. This year we will hang 250 wishes just as we did last year. The children’s wishes come from family members who sign the child up with the Salvation Army. They have stringent guidelines for criteria and make every effort to meet the child’s wish. The primary focus is Eloy, Pichacho, Arizona City, Casa Grande and Stanfield; however, this program is for Pinal County.
If you are interested in the back story please join the RR Ladies Group lunch on Monday, November 13, 2017, when Captain Lisa Davey of the Salvation Army will be our guest and will explain the program. The Angel Wishes will be available for adoption on Thursday, November 16, after 4:00 p.m. The guidelines will be clearly posted; the wishes are separated by boy/girl, a tree for each. All gifts must be returned by December 7, Thursday, unwrapped, with the wish well secured to the gift(s).
I will be looking for assistance and vehicles in delivering the gifts to the Salvation Army on Friday, December 9.