HAMPTON, Va. — It was crunch time Friday night for the Salvation Army of the Virginia Peninsula in Hampton. This branch covers Hampton, Newport News, Poquoson, Gloucester and Mathews County and lower York County.
Volunteers rushed to get gifts for kids who were part of their annual Angel Tree program.
Usually, partner organizations post up trees filled with tags. Each tag contains a child's name and a gift they'd like to receive.
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But this year, Commanding Officer Capt. Antonio Willis said they faced a challenge. Their partner organizations returned 150 tags, meaning those kids would be left without gifts and clothes this Christmas.
The deadline to buy the gifts was Friday night. Volunteers raced against the clock.
Willis said this program is critical to so many families.
"Mostly our secondary parents and our grandparents who are taking care of individuals this year, they're on a fixed income and wondering, in a sense, how they were going to make it work for these now extra bodies that live with them," Capt. Willis said. "And so we just want to be able to take a little bit of that stress off of them and say, 'Listen, relax a little bit'."
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Capt. Willis said the whole process is emotional—it's something he's familiar with on a personal level.
"Someone, somewhere over 20 years ago, suggested my family's name to the Salvation Army because my grandparents, who was raising my siblings and myself, were in need," Capt. Willis said. "There was an individual, who showed up at our house...and called each one of my siblings by name, and said, we deserve to have Christmas. And so here I am, almost 20 years later, doing the exact same path that this individual did for my family."
Capt. Willis said many of his volunteers were using their own money to pay for gifts for kids in need. Now, he's asking for monetary donations so the Salvation Army can keep its programs going year-round.