Salvation Army Begins Distributing Angel Tree Gifts

Thousands of families picked up Christmas presents donated through the Angel Tree Program from Salvation Army on Monday.

Jessica Naifeh is 15 years old and volunteered for the first time during the toy distribution day. She said her favorite part was loading the angel tree gifts into the cars.

“It just feels good to help the community. Everyone is so happy. Spreading joy," said Naifeh.

It took hundreds of volunteers and months of planning to make sure everything ran smoothly. Families began signing up for Christmas assistance in September. The number of families continued to grow right up to the deadline and the final number was 6,200 angels, more than 400 over what they initially expected.

“So those children represent about 1,700 families today that the salvation army will impact," said Major Sarah Nelson.

Major Nelson is the Area Commander for Tulsa Salvation Army and said help from people and donors made sure no angel was left on the tree this year.

“Literally the last hours until the cut-off for adoption was coming, I had a couple contact me and they wanted to know how many angel tags have not been adopted. The number at the time was about 400," said Major Nelson.

She said the couple adopted all 400 angels and on Monday, families picked up the donated gifts.

“It’s nice to see people’s faces when they receive their things and they are so grateful. We are so lucky to be in Tulsa with such a good community, helping each other and making sure that everybody has a Christmas," said Sonila Naifeh.