Tree of Hope Christmas Gift Program

 The community member who takes the name of a child goes and buys gifts for that child.  It is up to each individual what they buy and how much they spend.  Then they wrap each gift, mark it with the child’s first name and the control number and deliver it to the designated collection location; for the past few years that location has been the Oak Harbor Church of Christ.  For a full week Soroptimist members are on hand at the church to collect the gifts, organize them by control number and ensure that each child has at least one gift, but with the help of Toys For Tots each child normally has many gifts.  On a designated Saturday in December DSHS families come to the church to collect the gifts for their children.  Santa is on hand to greet any children who accompany their parents while his elves deliver the gifts to each family.  It is a long but rewarding day; people start arriving as early as 10 AM and the flow is steady all the way to 3 PM or later.  Every year there are a handful of people who are so grateful it bring tears to our eyes.  The one example that I remember the most and think about every year is the grandmother of a teenage boy.  She was the sole caregiver for that boy and the only thing on his list was a guitar.  Thankfully we had a community member who was able to purchase that guitar and when the grandmother came to pick up the gift she broke into sobbing tears.  She never expected anyone to buy something so expensive for her grandson and was so grateful she could not even speak through her tears.  Every elf on duty at the time was also in tears.  Just that one expression of thanks made all the hard work worth it!

 One of the reasons I love living in Oak Harbor is our community.  It is a generous community full of people willing to give of their time and money in order to help others in need.  “To whom much is given, much is expected.”  This rings true in Oak Harbor all through the year and I am grateful to be a part of this community!

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