The Salvation Army Houston Logo
 

PASADENA
Angels give children wish list
 By Carol Christian
December 9, 2008
The Houston Chronicle



TREE ANGELS: Elisa Gutierrez of Houston picks out a paper angel from the Salvation Army Angel Tree in Pasadena Town Square Mall. The tree holds angels that have the ages and clothing sizes of anonymous children. People take the angels off the tree and buy gifts and return them to the Salvation Army for later distribution. Thousands of children receive Christmas presents this way annually.

Thousands of children in East Harris County will receive holiday gifts this year because of the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree.

Making the Angel Tree possible takes thousands of people, Salvation Army officers say.

“Without the community’s help, we couldn’t do it,” said Capt. Delia Alonzo, codirector with her husband, Capt. Edward Alonzo, of the East Harris County Corps in Pasadena. “We are appreciative of the community for that.”

Since mid-November, the Angel Tree, decorated with tags representing area children, has been at Pasadena’s Town Square Mall, 1101 E. Southmore Ave., near the food court. Each tag bears the child’s first name, age, gender, clothing sizes and a special wish.

By Dec. 4, more than 3,200 individuals, including children and senior citizens, had registered with the Pasadena Corps to receive gifts.

For the next 10 days, Salvation Army staff members and volunteers will be working feverishly to make sure those requests are filled, Alonzo said.

Donors who have taken tags should put all the gifts they buy into one large bag and return it to the Angel Tree by Dec. 13. Those who miss that deadline can take their gifts by Dec. 15 to the Pasadena Corps at 2732 Cherrybrook Lane.

Distribution to the recipient families is scheduled for Dec. 17-20.

Although shoppers’ response to the Angel Tree has been slow, Alonzo said the program gets a boost from area corporations that take multiple tags.

This year, one area corporation took 1,000 angel tags for its employees to “adopt,” said Cynthia Grove, volunteer coordinator for the Salvation Army Greater Houston Area Command.

With registration for the Angel Tree program coming a few weeks after Hurricane Ike, Alonzo said she noticed a difference in the gifts children asked for this year: They’re less specific.

“Before, they would say, ‘I want an iPod,’ or big things,” she said. “This year, the majority are saying, ‘Anything. Whatever the Salvation Army can do will help us.’

“I tell them, ‘The community buys you the gifts, not the Salvation Army.’ ”

Copyright © 2008 The Houston Chronicle