I live in Texas, and I don't know how many other states do this, but we have a thing called Angel Trees here. At a bunch of different malls, there are trees with "angel cards" on them, and these angels are needy children who aren't going to be getting Christmas presents (ok, I'll be politically correct, "Holiday presents") without your help. The deal is, you pick an angel off of the tree (there are all different age groups to pick from, and you also chose the gender of your angel) and the card tells you what the child needs and wants for the holidays this year. Somehting they might need is a coat (imagine not having a coat during winter!), and something they might want could be anything from books to a cd player to a doll. Anyway, if you are a thrifty shopper, you could probably get away with spending $50 or even less on a child, and, well, if you're not (like me), then you might end up spending something like $150. What I challenge you to do this year is to pick an angel off of the tree (or even 2 or 3!) and get these needy angels presents instead of buying things for your friends and family. What you can do is make up a card that says something like "This year, instead of buying you something that you might not like, and probably don't need, I sponsored an angel in your honor." You'll be surprised how much this will please your friends, and especially your family members. So give it a shot! Someone else will buy your best friend the new Eminem cd she can't live without and someone else will get your mom the snowman cookie jar she has had her eye on forever. This is more important! These children are much more important!!!!

If you can help spread a little Christmas cheer or give direction on where to find some help, please advise:

The following two families are in the need of assistance for Christmas for their children and themselves. I have helped the best I can by signing them up for Christmas baskets for their dinner.

Family #1 is a single mother of a six year old boy, Jordan. His father is an absentee father that has never seen his son. The mother was doing well up until her heart attack in July of this year. She lost her job and accumulated a large medical bill. She is diabetic as well and the child is asthmatic. After 3 months Medicaid finally stepped in to provide her with her insulin and the inhaler and nebulizer needed for her child’s breathing treatment. Because she has been out of work for about 5 months, her bills have been maximized and Christmas is dim for the family. She lost her apartment and is currently living with relatives.
Jordan – age 6, size 8, shoe 3, likes Spiderman, power rangers, and batman, loves books and DVD’s
LaToya (mom) – age 26, size 16W, shoe 10, likes purple


Family #2 is a single diabetic mother of 5 boys! The mother was a teenage parent that completed high-school and had to plunge full force into the workforce at the age of 17. She is currently attending school to become a medical assistant. The father of her children was laid off from his job in November and is unable to provide support to his children. The children are ages 4, 6, 7, 10, and 15. The eldest son has taken an after-school job, yes at 15, in order to try to help his mom out. The mom works part-time at Staples. They are in the need of toys, books, shoes, clothes, food, and any other item you can provide.
Jayden-age 4, size 4t, shoes 13, big Elmo fan, the movie Cars, books, DVD
Mark-age 6, size 7-8 boys, shoes 3, Spiderman, power rangers, books, moon sand
Joshua-age 7, size 8 boys, shoes 3, batman, books, dinosaurs, planets, moon sand
Andre-age 10, size 14-16, shoes 7 Spongebob, books, cars, movies, mp3 player, or cd player
Jeremy-age 15, men size x-large, pants 38/ 34, books, clothes, music

Although we have sought help for these families at the Salvation Army, and toys for tots program, we were told that they started taking names in October, and have completed their wish lists. If you can be a Santa’s helper for either family, please send encouraging words, cards, words of wisdom, Christmas cheer, gifts, presents, advice, or anything information you can provide to the following places:

True Blue Gifts, LLC
c/o Veraunica Polk
P. O. Box 2084
Buford, GA 30515
(678) 804-8116
TrueBlueGooseLLC@aol.com

True Blue Gifts, LLC
C/o Veraunica Polk
4085 Suwanee Bend Drive
Suwanee, GA 30024

I have heard of angel trees but i guess we dont really practice it here... But during Christmas season, we get to show love to our friends and families in a simple way by giving little cards with inspirational quotes on them and of course, we made it by ourselves so it would look special and we give them to our friends and families unexpectedly and it gives such joy to see them surprised they we got something for them.
Here, we practice the giving of "bundles of joy" to the less fortunate kids and families and it is also practiced in almost all schools where we have to give children and their families some clothes, food and some toys.

I love the angel tree!!!!! I've gotten angels for about three years going on four now and I love all of it. I did it with my high school in past years and the sad thing was that I was almost the only person there who did. This year I want to get at least four; one little girl whom I can buy Barbie's for (I'm reliving my childhood fantasies; buying nice Barbies), a toddler, someone around 17, and then I want to go back on like the last day and get an angel who hasn't been chosen. I'm a sucker for stuff like this. But I think that's a good thing.

We did something like that for Spanish Honor Society. We picked an age group and gender and filled a shoebox with presents for a kid for a christmas present. Usually sent to spanish speaking countries. We put together and sent 10 shoeboxes i think.

That angel tree idea sounds cool though. I am going to look and see if there is anything like that around here. Prolly is something like that.