"For me personally, I was a single mother and where we lived, we didn't have a program like this. I struggled to give my kids Christmas or necessities," said Peggy Bathie, who along with her daughter Heather McGovern, run the Surface Creek Angel Tree.
The hope giving program has been providing holiday joy to Surface Creek families for over 40 years. For the past ten years the mother/daughter team have been helping to provide gifts at Christmas time for families in need.
The annual project operates under non-profit Cedar Harbor and was honored recently with a grant from the Surface Creek Community Fund to keep hope flowing to families during the holidays. Angel Tree also relies on individual donations and community participation.
Still, for Bathie the work has always been in the hands of a higher power.
“I just walk away…Lord these are your children and I need you to find a sponsor for every child, they're yours."
The gift giving process starts in October when application forms are sent home with children who attend Cedaredge schools. Homeschool families are welcome to participate and teenage children can also be included in the family’s application.
"If in any generation needs hope right now its teenagers," she said.
Completed application forms from recipient families are returned to Angel Tree. Anonymous gift information, to protect identities, is then placed on individual tags and hung on Christmas trees at various Surface Creek businesses.
Anyone in the community can take and fill the tag, either completely or in part. Items on the tags include a toy, a book, a coat and a pair of pajamas.
Purchased gift items are then returned to Angel Tree, where they are checked to match the size and gender of the children. The gifts are then placed in a beautiful Christmas bag and returned to the receiving family.
In the past, Angel Tree did all the gift wrapping but, decided it was a great opportunity for families to be more involved.
"If people want wrapping paper, we'll send it home with them. That gives parents a chance to be involved with in it too."
Tags that aren’t claimed or incomplete are filled by Angel Tree using donations provided by the community. Angel Tree then does shopping for the current year and the next year.
In these uncertain times, Bathie and McGovern know that their mission is more important than ever. Giving hope to those who are dealing with financial insecurity or just feeling a bit lonely during the holiday season is what Surface Creek Angel Tree is all about.
Bathie’s message and mission to her community ‘rings true’ in the hearts of all who love children and want to bring a bit of hope into the world.
"You're not alone, you're never alone. Hold on to hope, because it's there and we're here too."
Angel Tree tags can be found at the Bank of Colorado in Cedaredge or at Angel Tree. The deadline for tag holders to return gifts is this Friday December 12th
