Community Makes Angel Tree Possible

The city of Murphy, North Carolina comes together to make The Angle Tree a reality. Reported in the Cherokee Tribune, this is the 16th year the community come together for this huge event. This year, four groups deserve special mention- Murphy Elementary, Methodist Church Youth, Wal-art Third Shift, and Express Yourself.

Murphy Elementary got angels from a tree and put them up in the school hallway. A guest resident could not believe that they kids had done this until pick-up day. When she arrived they had two bicycles, a television and a box full of other gifts. Everyone appreciated the school staff for getting this together for the community. Murphy First United Methodist Youth Group did something similar. Pastor George Yates got 20 angels off the courthouse tree and gave each youth member an angel with one item listed and $40.00. They went to Wal-Mart as a group and shopped for their child. They knew what to do and loaded them up. Most had at least two bags of assorted items like toys, games, candy, clothes, and gloves plus the gift listed on the angel.

The thought and effort the youth put into this speaks volumes. You could tell they got the foster kids things they would want for themselves. There are inevitably angels left over on most of the trees, and this is planned for early. This year's Wal-Mart's third shift employees took every leftover angel off the Wal-Mart tree and raised money themselves to get everything that was left. They did bake sales, potlucks and all kinds of things to get it done. There are others in the community who do this every year, most use their own money and some from the board of Realtors' benevolence fund.

Finally, Express Yourself is the new business in Lakeside Plaza that has a heart for giving back to the community. They need some special attention to reward them for their generosity, too. One owner took three angels off a tree that listed duffel bags for the kids. They called to ask if there were more left to see if they could do more themselves, and to also find out which schools the children attend or what their interests were so they could personalize them. When they were finished, yet another call was made to see if there was anything else left that might have been overlooked that they could finish. They did a bag for each based on their interests.

When it was time to pick everything up, everyone was almost in tears knowing the kids were in that sort of situation. They decided to buy an entire line of black bags to use year-round and personalize for the foster kids who came into care with no bags or luggage. All that is needed is to identify the need, give the information and plan to donate all of those to foster kids. It was mentioned that they were trying to find out about the kids in the homeless and REACH shelters, too, to be able to do something for them.

Another group is a unit at the local hospital that took one child who needed a duffel bag, called and got his sizes and went to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee as a group and stuffed one of these huge rolling duffel bags full of everything you could imagine. They picked a perfect child to do that for. Their are many individuals and groups that have done similar things that are not aware of because of their modesty. Almost all of the people who participate do it for the joy it brings, not the glory they could get.

Thank You for all your help!!!!!!!!!!!!!! From the Cherokee County Angel Tree Project