How to Help The Angel Tree Network

The Angel Tree Network is a special charity program for children of incarcerated individuals. The founders discovered that many people in prison wanted to let their children know they still loved them by asking volunteers to provide gifts for their kids. All the prisoners involved are part of a prison fellowship ministry. So how can you help?

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• a little bit of time
• gifts or a way to acquire them

1. Find an Angel Tree. Sometimes you will see these in malls, but you can typically find an Angel Tree at a church or local Salvation Army. Those trees have contact information for the network manager if he or she is not present.
2. Pick a child (or children). The children on the Angel Tree are listed on little angel cards. No pictures of the actual children are on them. The children separated by gender and age. The gifts on the cards were picked by the incarcerated parent. If you find a group of children attached, you are responsible for providing gifts for them because they are most likely related.
3. Purchase the gifts OR acquire them through your own network! If you see gifts that may be out of your price range or you have a group of children, don't hesitate to ask others to volunteer and help! For instance, there may be a large coat listed on the card. Someone at work may have a spare coat in that size that was never worn. As long as the gifts are new or gently used, you should be o.k..
4. guardians may be skittish about letting a "stranger" into their home. Some of those kids saw their parent get arrested and may be wary. But if you can manage to deliver the gifts personally, everyone gets rewarded. There is no joy like seeing the face of a child who gets a gift from a parent that can't do it in person but thought of them.
   If you can't deliver, have the angel tree program manager arrange a delivery. They usually have a date in mind, so make sure you know what it is before you purchase anything!

Tips & Warnings

• Some Angel Tree Networks host parties for the kids at a local church or community center. If you feel uncomfortable purchasing gifts, you can always volunteer to help run a party. Angeltree.org has a section where you can donate funds or even stocks if that is your preferred way to give.