‘Adopt An Angel’ program wrapping up

With Family and Children’s Services’ “Adopt An Angel” program coming to an end on Wednesday, the public still has a chance to make a district child’s Christmas morning that much more joyful.
“Adopt An Angel” trees are set up at Wal-Mart here and Tompkins Hardware in Emo, decorated with paper angels anonymously representing the foster children and others being served by FACS who could benefit from some extra joy at Christmas.
The public is encouraged to drop by either of these sites, pick an angel, and then buy a gift for one of these children, who live in communities from Atikokan to Rainy River.
“There’s still some angels left. I haven’t checked the numbers yet for yesterday or today but we’re hoping we have a good turnout for the next couple days,” said Jacquee Loerzel, children’s mental health counsellor for FACS.
Between the two sites, there’s between 120-130 children to be bought for, she noted.
Loerzel said the program has been going well so far and people have been “adopting” children to buy for.
“It’s times like this when it makes a person proud to be a part of this community,” she remarked. “We give a big thank you to the district residents and businesses that helped out purchasing gifts for all the kids this year.”
Loerzel also said she’d like to thank the staff and management at both Wal-Mart and Tompkins for allowing the agency to set up the angel trees this year.
The “Adopt An Angel” program works as follows:
•Pick an angel from the tree (each angel has a pretend name of a child on it, as well as their age and gender).
•Each child will have identified what they would like for Christmas on their angel (this item is to be purchased at Wal-Mart or Tompkins).
•When you have picked out your angel’s items, bring them to the cash register and identify that you’ll be purchasing a gift for the angel you’ve selected.
•The cashier will complete your purchase and place the angel and gift into a shopping bag, then place the bag in a safe area to be picked up later by a FACS worker.
•The gifts will be delivered to the children in time for Christmas.
The FACS “Adopt An Angel” program has been running for four years. Each year has been a success, usually seeing each “angel” adopted in time for Christmas.
If all the angels aren’t adopted this year, Loerzel noted FACS will try to come up with some last-minute fundraising to ensure those remaining children still end up getting a gift.
Anyone with questions about the “Adopt An Angel” program can call Loerzel at 274-7787 ext. 263.