Tables filled with toys, games, books and everything else a kid could wish for on Christmas morning were ready for shoppers.
Packages of Barbie dolls were stacked up across from Play-Doh sets and Squishmallows inside of Grace United Methodist Church on Dec. 14. Nerf toys and water guns had been lined up near art sets and LEGO packages. Spiderman action figures, Hot Wheels tracks and a walking, talking unicorn could be found on other tables.
For those taking part in this year’s Christmas Angels program, this was a blessing.
“It saved Christmas,” said Tracy Holt, a Greenwood resident who was shopping for her 11-year-old granddaughter.
More than 1,200 children were provided with gifts through Christmas Angels this year, helping parents and guardians who are struggling simply to keep their homes and buy food have a bit of joy this holiday season.
“Christmas can be tough for families, particularly if you cannot purchase any gifts for your children,” said Nancy Lohr Plake, United Way of Johnson County executive director. “This gives them a sense of relief, and ensures that kiddos here in Johnson County have gifts underneath the tree on Christmas morning.”
The Christmas Angels program is designed to provide gifts for Johnson County children — newborn to 17 years old — who would otherwise not have Christmas gifts. Sponsors had the option to buy gifts for an entire family, or donate toys and other items.
Children who did not receive a sponsor are typically invited to come to the Christmas Angel Tree Store in mid-December to pick out gifts for the holidays.
A surge of community support drove this year’s program, with 165 people sponsoring children and another 30 donating toys to the Christmas Angel Tree Store.
“We made a huge push during COVID to get sponsors, and those sponsors are sticking with us,” Plake said. “Particularly this year, has been overwhelmingly generous. Many of our sponsors are taking more families than they have in the past, and the gift sponsors have been very thoughtful about what they’re purchasing.
Besides sponsors themselves, a number of other organizations helped with the Christmas Angels program. Grace United Methodist Church offered to once again be the host of the program. They handled the logistics of setting up the Angel Tree Store, and provided volunteers to help participants “shop” for their kids.
“It’s all about community outreach. We love to be involved in the community, and if we can create an opportunity to fill a need, that’s why we’re here,” said Amanda Otte, a member of Grace who helped organize from the church’s perspective.
Friends of the Johnson County Public Library also helped with the effort. Members crafted handmade bookmarks to distribute to participants, with coupons for families to get a free item at the library’s Booktiques — areas at each library branch where people can buy high-quality used books.
Giving out the bookmarks and the coupons allow the Friends to help spread the love of reading, said Merilee Allen, the book sale coordinator for the organization.
“Getting books into the hands of children, that’s a passion for all of us,” she said. “So we love to partner with other nonprofits to do that.”
This year, 34 families were invited to take part in the Angel Tree Store, picking out gifts for 91 children.
Holt, who is raising her granddaughter, almost missed the opportunity to participate in Christmas Angels this year. She moved to the county late, after the registration period had ended.
But United Way staff were able to get her in, so that she could have gifts for Christmas morning in the face of rent and other bills.
“I was so happy, because it was either a home or Christmas,” she said.
BY THE NUMBERS
Christmas Angels
>>2022
Children served: 1,219
Families served: 458
>>2021
Children served: 1,319
Families served: 497
>>2020
Children served: 1,358
Families served: 525
>>2019
Children served: 1,405
Families served: 559
Source: United Way of Johnson County
