November Update
Angel Tree is here! Our tree will be in the church foyer Nov. 12 & 19. The first Sunday is your opportunity to take an angel from the tree, buy the suggested gift or gift card from Target or Amazon during the week and return it to the same table the following Sunday, the 19th. We still in need of volunteers in a few areas so if you would like to help make a child’s Christmas even better. Please contact me.
Your sister in Christ,
Karen
818-640-8402
October Update
Angel Tree is only a month away! Our tree will be up in early Nov. That’s the time to pick an angel off our tree & buy a gift for a child on behalf of their incarcerated parent. In previous months we’ve talked about ways you can help in preparation for that time. We need to vet all the children & caregivers, make angels for the tree, be at our table & organize gifts.
The most popular job is the last one: deliver gifts to the children. We have some members who do this year after year. If you have children, it’s a wonderful learning experience for them. You can deliver to as many families as you want but on average our delivery volunteers deliver to 2-3 families. They have plenty of time to do this because we get the gifts to them at the beginning of Dec.
If you would like to volunteer in any of these areas or just have questions, please feel free to call, text or email me.
Your sister in Christ, Karen
818-640-8402
September Update
Greetings!
The time for Angel Tree Christmas is getting closer and will be here before you know it. If you haven’t already made a decision to volunteer to help these kids, please do so now. You will benefit as much as they will, trust me. If the previous positions didn’t appeal to you, preparations beforehand, filling out angels for the tree, working at our table on a Sunday morning, maybe one of these will—buying gift(s) for the kids. You simply take an angel off the tree, sign it out, and buy the suggested gift for the child or maybe you think of a better gift idea or you can always buy a gift card from Target or Amazon, and return it the following Sunday.
Are you an organized person? This is the job for you! After all the gifts come in, I will need help to organize the gifts for distribution to the delivery volunteers. Most of these families have more than one child so we need to put the gifts together for each family. Let me know if you have any questions or would like to participate.
Your sister in Christ, Karen
818-640-8402
August Update
Hi, it’s Karen Cates for Angel Tree. I hope your summer is going well. Last month I told you about volunteer jobs for contacting caregivers & preparing angels for the tree.
This month let’s talk about table volunteers. I need several people at our table on both Sundays, Nov. 12 & 19, to assist in distribution & keeping track of angels taken from the tree. You would be at the table from 9 am to approximately 10:45 am. This is a very important job because it’s where we keep track of the angels, who took them to buy gifts, when they returned gifts, and how to reach them if they don’t return on time. We have to make sure they don’t leave the table with an angel(s) without signing it out. If there are a lot of people approaching the table at once it can become chaotic.
But don’t worry I have a tried & true plan to make it work easily. We’re Team Angel Tree & we’ve got this!
Your sister in Christ, Karen
818-640-8402
July Update
It’s Karen Catyes with your Angel Tree update. This month we’re going to talk about preparation. Before we actually have the tree in the foyer with the angels that have the kid’s names on them there are a few things to do.
Here are two of them:
- Contact caregiver for each family to verify the information we’ve received because it’s not always accurate.
- After we’ve done that a group of people need to get together & fill out the angels to hang on the tree with child’s name & suggested gift ideas.
If either of these sound like something you’d like to volunteer, contact me at 818-640-8402 or
Your sister in Christ, Karen
June Update
For those of you not familiar with Angel Tree it is an international organization that works through church congregations for children of incarcerated men and women. Christmas presents were purchased but given on behalf of the prisoners for their children.
LAC has participated under the sponsorship of Covenant S.S. class every Christmas for the past 12 years. Members of the congregation buy gifts and other members deliver them to the children and let them know the gifts are from their mom or dad.
It’s a huge undertaking but it’s easy when we have good participation from the congregation. And that’s where you come in.
Over the next few months, we are going to share information about the various areas where we need your help & ask you to consider volunteering some of your time. Most are just a couple of hours once a year. Easy, right?
Preparation beforehand includes; making tree angels, table volunteers in the foyer, buying gifts for the kids, helping to organize gifts, and most popular of all, delivering the gifts. You can choose to help in more than one area. You will receive written instructions for whatever you choose to do that will answer any questions.
You can contact me anytime to ask questions or volunteer at 818.640.8402 or via e-mail:
Your sister in Christ, Karen