(Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune) Angel Tree volunteers wave that they are ready to fill a Christmas present order for a family in need at the Salvation Army's Angel Tree distribution warehouse at the Utah State Fairgrounds. Needy families living in the Salt Lake School District picked up their bags of presents Friday Dec. 22, just in time for Christmas.
Families kept tightly bundled against the cold as they scurried from their cars toward the Utah State Fairgrounds’ stables Friday morning, though many kept one hand bare, clutching a ticket to Christmas.
Nearly every one of nearly 1,200 kids receiving presents during this year’s Angel Tree distribution was from the Salt Lake City School District, which has partnered with The Salvation Army’s Salt Lake City Corps since 2012 to provide holiday support for area families living in poverty.
Angel Tree is a nationwide program where anonymous donors can buy children and families gifts for Christmas, with local businesses and organizations putting up Christmas trees for weeks prior, featuring tags that describe the recipients and their wish lists.
Elizabeth Young, a development officer with the school district, said Friday that seeing young ones light up as they receive gifts never gets old.
“I’m reminded every year that these donors get all of these gifts and they won’t get to see the smiles on the parents and kids faces like we do,” Young said. “(The donors) are doing this because it makes them feel good and they know it’ll bring the spirit of the holidays to complete strangers.”
The Salvation Army’s Salt Lake City Corps helps about 1,600 families annually, or roughly 4,800 children aged 12 and younger.
Troy Trimmer, Salt Lake Basin coordinator for The Salvation Army, said Granite and Davis school districts also both work with the Salt Lake Corps to help families in need.
The Angel Tree gift distribution site could be likened to Santa’s workshop the week of Christmas. Volunteers at Utah Fair Park bustled between wooden shelves and horse stalls, searching for gifts in red and green bags filled with winter clothes, toys and other presents.
Karen Allbor, who works for Salt Lake School District’s accounting department, has volunteered on distribution day for the last three years. She said she looks forward to seeing the parents’ excitement each year and said the experience helps her realize what is important in her life.
Fellow district employee Mike Harman brings several of his own family members to help with the distribution each year. He said the program is a way to connect outside of school with students he encounters as part of his regular job, all of whom are transient or homeless.
“I think we have a responsibility to take care of each other,” Harman said. “Every volunteer who is here is to help make sure kids in our community are taken care of.”