Montgomery County United Way staff volunteers with Project Angel Tree

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas — This holiday season, the staff at Montgomery County United Way experienced the joy of giving by participating in its own “Day of Caring.” As part of the Angel Tree program through The Salvation Army, an MCUW funded community partner, the team organized and filled Santa-like bags with donated Christmas gifts for children and senior citizens in need in Montgomery County.

The Angel Tree Program is one of the largest and longest-standing holiday gift-giving initiatives in the local region. Since 1889, it has provided Christmas assistance for disadvantaged children and seniors in our community. Last year alone, thanks to the support of the Greater Houston region, over 23,000 individuals were positively impacted by The Salvation Army during the Christmas holiday season, in Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties.

The intricate operation of organizing and distributing the donated gifts is taken very seriously at the Montgomery County warehouse and runs like a well-oiled machine. One-on-one attention is given to each Angel Tree child as their wish list, sizes, and donated items are cross-checked making sure the bags are filled correctly. If a child’s bag has a missing item, is the wrong size, or is not age appropriate, volunteers can then go “shopping” for the items from a bank of individually donated toys, clothes, shoes, and books - allowing for great joy on Christmas morning as the child receives what he or she wished for.

Montgomery County residents have long been known for their generous hearts and giving spirit, especially around the holidays. Because of that generosity, this year close to 4,000 children and senior citizens received gifts from the Angel Tree program. Montgomery County United Way staff is proud to be a part of a program that helps drive forward our mission of improving lives in Montgomery County.

For more information about the impact work of Montgomery County United Way, or to see more of our Day of Caring, visit www.mcuw.org.