Angel Tree Christmas Party highlights urgent need for community support

GRAND RAPIDS TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — With Christmas music filling the air at Talsma Furniture near Grand Rapids Thursday evening, children in need made their way through a magical night of free holiday fun at the Angel Tree Christmas Party.

“It’s kind of like kicking off the Christmas season because we’ve got everything coming together,” Maj. Tim Meyer of the Salvation Army, which runs the Angel Tree toy drive, said.

Talsma Furniture hosted the event at its East Paris location. It put together snack packs for kids, a charcuterie board for adults and a hot chocolate bar that was a big hit.

The Angel Tree is something the Talsma family has been passionate for years. The goal of the party was to help draw attention to the increasing need for assistance.

“There’s a lot of tags on the tree, and so I want to encourage West Michigan to go out, grab a tag, come and be a part of this,” Tiffany DeHaan, from the Talsma family, said. “Salvation Army is amazing. Lets give back West Michigan.”

Kids had the chance to decorate Christmas cookies, which were donated by Family Fare. They had the opportunity to write Santa a letter and meet the big man himself. Each of them walked away with a gift to open, capturing the joy that Angel Tree delivers.

“My favorite part is when the kids open the gifts. Their eyes light up when they see their name on that gift and then they take it back and some of them can’t even wait five seconds to tear the wrapping off. Just the joy that they have, to receive a gift,” Meyer said.

The number of families approved for holiday assistance this year is up 156% from last year, with the number of Angel Teens — teens who will receive gift cards through Angel Tree — up 190%. But what the Salvation Army is seeing, and what DeHaan has confirmed, is there are not enough toys coming in to meet the demand.

“The gifts are a little bit slow coming in,” Meyer said. “We’re hoping that people will take those tags off those trees, come through like they have in years past and get those gifts to the Army so we can get them to the children.”

There are more than 400 registered Angel Tree sites across West Michigan. The campaign is simple: Find a site, grab a tag, purchase the gift that corresponds with the tag and bring it back unwrapped to a site by Dec. 15.

In the 33 years WOOD TV8 has partnered with the Salvation Army to help make the Angel Tree a reality, more than 500,000 children have created a Christmas morning memory thanks to the generosity of the West Michigan community.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.