By LINN ANN HUNTINGTON
Special to Hays Post
Families needing a little help in purchasing Christmas gifts for their children this year can find that help at the Salvation Army office in Ellis County. There are no income requirements, said Laura Allen, Service Extension Ellis County coordinator.
The Salvation Army is accepting Angel Tree gift applications from families through Monday, Nov. 24. Applications may be picked up and returned to the Salvation Army office in the Hadley Center, 204 E. Seventh St., Suite A.
Allen said, “Please slide completed applications under the door from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.”
The Salvation Army accepts gift requests for children ages infant to 18 years of age. Last year the agency served 112 children, Allen said.
Once she has received an application, Allen places a gift tag request for that child on the Angel Tree, which is located at Fuzzy’s Tacos, 4310 Vine St. The gift tag requests started going on the tree on Wednesday, Nov. 19.
People are asked to take the gift tag for a specific child, purchase the gift(s) and return the tag and the gift(s) unwrapped either to Fuzzy’s or to the Salvation Army office.
Gifts need to be returned by Monday, Dec. 15. That way, Allen said, volunteers have time to purchase additional gifts as needed. Sometimes not all gift tags are taken, she added.
Families will pick up the gifts Thursday and Friday, Dec. 18 and 19, in the Hadley Center Conference Room.
Her office is also accepting donations of wrapping paper in a box outside her office. That wrapping paper then goes to families who need it, she said.
This Christmas gift project is one of the things she loves most about her job, Allen said.
“There is no reason for parents to worry about not being able to buy gifts, and all kids deserve gifts on Christmas. Knowing that the volunteers who help and the people who donate gifts have worked together to make gifts possible is one of my favorite things.”
More information is available from Allen at [email protected] or (785) 621-2794.