Christmas Angel Tree makes season brighter for local residents

This holiday season, teens involved in the South Salt Lake Youth City Council have organized an effort to make Christmas special for some local families in need.

The teens placed an Angel Tree on the second floor of South Salt Lake City Hall, located at 220 East Morris Ave., just outside of the city council chambers in the hope that city staff and other visitors might donate items to help the youth council give a merrier Christmas to low-income residents.

The special tree was decorated with paper ornaments listing the ages, sex and gift items needed for children from families who might not otherwise have presents to unwrap on Christmas morning.

South Salt Lake City Youth Council Adviser Jennifer Allred said the Angel Tree project is a holiday tradition for youth council members. She said all year long, city staff was on the lookout for families in need to sponsor during Christmastime.

“We all just work together,” Allred said.

Elementary school teachers, local police officers or crime victims’ advocates could recommend Angel Tree families for the special program.

This year, the Youth City Council teens accepted and organized donations to give Christmas gifts and essential items to more than five families.

Through Dec. 16, donations of new clothing, warm coats, boots and shoes, and mittens were accepted to help get the children on the list ready for winter.

Youth council members also wanted to give the children a few fun gift items to help bring some holiday cheer to the families.

Gift tags on the Angel Tree offered specific recommendations for each child--such as a toy, book or game--based on what their interests are.

Allred said the teens were uniquely qualified to pick out gifts for the young children because they are more aware of what items would be most popular.

“This way we can cater to what [the kids] are into now,” Allred said.

Cash donations were also welcomed so that youth council members could shop for the families over the weekend of Dec. 17 and 18. All of the Christmas gifts were wrapped and prepared for special delivery to the families.

Then from Dec. 19 to 22, youth council teens took time to get the gifts to the families early enough that they could be placed in homes as a surprise in time for Christmas morning.

Allred said local businesses also sponsored families as part of the effort this year. She said she wanted to send out a special thanks to everyone who donated and helped to make the Angel Tree project a success.