One of the Angel Trees in Big J’s in Preston recently.
PRESTON – For approximately 15 years two lady elves from the Preston area have been making Christmas a great experience for people in Franklin County.
Robin Berrett, Hidie Nye, their families and volunteers have made Christmas happen for 45 under-privileged families (or 120 children) in Franklin County after the local Chamber of Commerce stopped doing it.
The two started in October, printing the applications and getting them out to the community. They put collection jars in area retail establishments and put Christmas Trees in high traffic areas.
Then they hang tags on the trees hoping the public will buy the gifts on the tags. When the gifts start arriving, they lay them out in the Archery Building and separate them and put them in large plastic bags.
“We’ve had about the same number of children that needed help the last couple of years,” Nye said. “Robin and I are doing it together again. Her daughter comes and helps, too.”
The Angel Trees have been put in strategic locations where they can get the most people to see them and hopefully participate.
“We need to thank True Value, Big J’s and West Side High School for letting us put trees up in their facilities,” Nye said. “There would be no Angel Trees without their cooperation.”
Year after year the two have been amazed at the generosity of the residents when it comes to helping others during the holidays.
“The last day for people to turn in their angel gifts is on December 19. By December 21, we will have everything bagged up and ready to go. Then on December 22nd is pick-up day,” she said. “One of our ladies, Evelyn Rawlins, also is a big help.”
When it comes to crunch time, a number of volunteers show up and help sort and bag the toys.
“We check all the bags to make sure everything is right,” Nye said. “Then the parents and others come by and pick up the bags between 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.”
The two have lost count as to the number of years they have been dong the Angel Tree.
“We said we would do it until our babies graduated from high school and left home,” she said. “But here we are doing it again.”
The Berrett and Nye children have grown up and left home, but some still come back and help as part of their Christmas tradition when they can. The Angel Tree production has been a Nye/Barrett family tradition for as long as some of them can remember.
“At this time of year, with all the pressure we wonder if it’s all worth it,” Nye said. “When people start to pick up their bags and we see all the hugs and tears, it makes it all worth it.”
The two have guidelines they follow and so far it has worked well for them.
“We screen the families using the same criteria that the health department uses to determine who they give help to,” Berrett said. “Once we get the information back, we make tags and hang the ages and needs on the trees.”
They are just a two-person organization; some people think they are a part of another civic club.
“It’s just the two of us and a bunch of volunteers that do the Angel Tree program in Franklin County,” Berrett said. “It would be a shame if we found out someone didn’t have a Christmas and we could have helped.”