Local families to benefit from generosity
For children all across Shreveport- Bossier City, this couldn’t be a more exciting time as the Salvation Army Angel Trees start going up.
“The community moves mountains to help our Angels,” said LaKesha D. Mosley, development and public relations director for the The Salvation Army, said. “We are sponsoring about 1,000 more children than last year, so we really need hearts to open and hands to pull angel tags to help out this season.”
The Salvation Army Shreveport Angel Tree Program is one the Salvation Army’s most expensive programs but also one of their most necessary. “Between our Angel Tree budget and the community donations, we estimated that the cost is well over $100,000 to run this program,” Mosley said. “The financial support from the Mavericks is a blessing to us, and we are truly grateful for their spirit of giving this holiday season.”
The goal for this year’s Angel Tree fundraiser is to provide toys for more than 5,000 children in the Shreveport- Bossier City area. Also, a goal is to see all the angels adopted. Many are not each year, and those angels, dubbed “Forgotten Angels” receive gifts directly from the Salvation Army so that no one is left out.
Locations of the Angel Trees include Mall St. Vincent, Pierre Bossier Mall, KTAL-TV-6 Studios (north of town), The Radio Group Shreveport north of town) and all Walmart locations, to name a few.
Mosley is excited about the newer developments for this year’s program. “We’ve been blessed this year to partner with the Shreveport-Bossier Mavericks,” Mosley said. “They bring to the table community presence at their home games, appearances from the team members, volunteering at our events, and last but not least, a $20,000 donation to help purchase toys for the Angels.”
On Nov. 22, attendees of the Shreveport- Bossier Mavericks game can get in free with the donation of a toy that will benefit the Angel Tree program.
“The best part of my job is when I get to tell the ‘unheard’ and ‘untold’ stories of the people and families The Salvation Army helps,” Mosley said. “We have so many good works going on that the community doesn’t know about. We protect the confidentially of our clients, so we are not always able to share the story of the single mother with little children of whom she is unable to provide Christmas gifts for but with the help of the community receives a complete Christmas with toys, a turkey and all the trimmings. Or of the senior citizen that would be home alone on Thanksgiving Day without a holiday dinner if we did not serve a fellowship meal that day.”
This year, however, The Salvation Army will be share some of those very inspiring stories and will follow Romesheucia, Wanda and Dianey through the Angel Tree process. “The community will get to go behind the scenes and see just how their joyous spirit of giving helps to make Christmas mornings bright for thousand of angels in the area,” Mosley said. “These stories will be told on our social media pages and with our media partners.”
The Salvation Army encourages anyone looking to participate to adopt an angel and also to consider volunteering. Interested volunteers may contact them at 424-3200. They are looking for people to monitor the trees and help sort gifts in the Christmas warehouse. The Salvation Army also asks that all toys are returned by Dec. 10 and unwrapped for safety measures.
Mosley hopes the community will seriously consider donating their time and effort for this great cause. “There is nothing more heart-warming than knowing that while you are opening gifts and sharing joy with your own family on Christmas morning, that you helped to put a smile on the face of a deserving child, that might not otherwise have anything to open on Christmas morning,” Mosley said. “As adults, we know it’s not about the toys, but rather about the spirit of giving, and that’s what we ask the community members to do: Give to a child who can share their story with the other kids at school and not feel left out or sad. It will make them feel special and loved.”
To learn more, visit salvationarmyalm.org/shreveport/angel-tree/.
