Shopping for A Cause: Salvation Army Angel Tree!

Taylor Brione Ballard
December 14, 2012
Lifestyle

Last Saturday, some of the Houston Bloggers were invited to Santa’s Secret Warehouse by the Salvation Army so that we could learn about their annual Christmas initiative The Angel Tree Program. This program helps to provide gifts for children (ages 12 and under) and seniors (ages 62 plus) every holiday seasons. The massive 24,000 square foot warehouse houses items from toys to bath robes, and is kept super secret, to make sure these gifts are kept safe for the families who will receive them.

Angel Tree Facts:

The Salvation Army has been doing the Angel Tree program for 123 years
Last year over 30,000 seniors and children in the Houston area were provided gifts
Serves the Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery counties

After we were given the rundown on how everything works we were given the opportunity to shop the warehouse for a specific individual! The place was huge, however, very organized. There were large signs indicating the age and gender, as well as labels on each box to let you know which individual this item would be well suited for. I had the pleasure of shopping for a senior female who wanted just a bath towel and a jacket for Christmas! It was an humbling experience and for a moment I did get a little emotional. I searched throughout all of the items to find the perfect items for her. There were no bath towels, but I did find her a pretty pink bath robe and a nice magenta jacket. I added in some extra tops and some bath products as well.

Over lunch I talked to some of the other bloggers and it seemed that the older children and seniors had less items to pick from. Although, the Salvation Army works really hard to make sure that every child is given an age-appropriate gift, everyone can’t get a Wii or other expensive gifts. I encourage you to support the Angel Tree program! And when shopping think of gifts for boys and girls ages 10-12 and seniors in particular.

Ways You Can Help

-Donate new unwrapped gifts to participating Houston Area Businesses

-Donate your spare change to the Red Kettles in front of local stores

-Adopt an Angel from the Mall Angel Tree’s in the local Houston area

To learn more about the Salvation Army and the Angel Tree project visit their website.

So often, we take for granted what we already have and how blessed we truly are. This holiday season I challenge you to give back and help to make Christmas happy time for children and seniors who aren’t as privileged as we are.

Disclosure: I received compensation to share this program with my readers. All opinions are my own.

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About Me

Taylor Brione Ballard

I’m Taylor Brione Ballard—a proud University of Houston grad from the Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership, where I majored in Event Management and Sales and picked up a minor in Nonprofit Management along the way.