Salvation Army Angel Tree Aims to Help 2,000-Plus Coastal Alabama Kids

The Salvation Army of Coastal Alabama has launched its annual Angel Tree program with a goal of brightening the holidays for more than 2,000 children across the Mobile area, organizers said this week.

The program, a longstanding holiday tradition in the region, invites shoppers to select an “angel” tag bearing a child’s first name, age and gift wishes, then purchase and donate presents on that child’s behalf. This year’s tree lists 968 local families, representing 1,083 boys and 1,133 girls, with the largest share of children falling between four and five years old.

Katie Emer, public relations director for the Salvation Army of Coastal Alabama, said the program has increasingly shifted its focus in recent years toward working families who fall just short of being able to cover extras like toys and gifts. “Those who are doing the best they can to make ends meet, but don’t have the extra money at the end of the month for things like toys or gifts,” Emer said of the families the program now targets.

Emer said the Angel Tree also supports parents who are enrolled in school and working toward bettering their circumstances, along with single parents raising preschool-age children who often find that childcare costs eat into any income earned from minimum-wage work. Grandparents who have taken on legal custody of grandchildren are eligible as well, provided they can show documentation of custody.

To qualify for assistance, a parent generally must be employed or enrolled in college coursework, reflecting the organization’s effort to prioritize working households navigating tight budgets rather than families without any income at all.

The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program began in 1979 in Lynchburg, Virginia, where Salvation Army officers Charles and Shirley White started it at a shopping mall.