As the air gets crisp and the Christmas
spirit lingers on the streets, the angel tree makes
its way into the IMC.
Steven Fetzik and Chris Ramacher
are in charge of the angel tree program at the
high school. The Salvation Army started the angel
tree program and it began here at the high
school roughly three or four years ago.
The way it works is that parents who
are struggling to provide gifts for their children
during the holidays have a chance to have others
buy their child a present. Anyone interested in
helping out a child becomes their sponsor and
receives a card with the child’s name, age and
wish list. The sponsor then buys the presents and
brings them to the IMC. The presents get sent
back to the parents and they have a chance to
wrap them.
The first year this program began there
were about 20 names on the list of children who
could be sponsored, but now the number has increased
to 50 names.
“Sponsors range from teachers, students
and organizations,” said Fetzik.“The
names on the list are gone amazingly fast.”
All presents are due back to the IMC
on December 11, and then the Salvation Army
will come pick them all up.
Students who are interested in sponsoring
a child can have their parents sign a permission
slip and participate in this program.
Teachers in our school district are involved in
this program as well.
Teresa Orpen has been a sponsor for
the program for the past three years. “My family
and I pick a sponsor close to our daughter’s age
because then we can show her that Christmas
isn’t all about her, that it’s about everyone,” said
Orpen.
Orpen said that some people have this
assumption that parents can’t afford it, but there
is always more to the story. Also, she said that
just opening anything that you really want for
the holidays is better than getting nothing at all.
The ages for children that are sponsored
range from babies to preteens. The National
Honor Society (NHS) also partakes in
this program by sponsoring two children.
“People always go for babies and kids
who like toys, and many 10-11 year olds don’t
get chosen,” said Orpen, “so NHS sponsored the
children less likely to be picked.”