Guest guest Posted December 24, 2008 Report Share Posted December 24, 2008 Unlocking Holiday Cheer http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/dec/24/pa-unlocking-holiday-cheer/ By CAROLE DICKEY Trish Mills remembers Christmases past when her young son never got a present from his dad. The parent was in prison at the time, unable to shop. It wasn't until years later Mills, now 57, learned about Angel Tree, a Prison Fellowship program that provides a way for incarcerated parents to have gifts delivered to their children. Her husband, now her ex-husband, could have participated, but never did. " The program had been going on for years, but my son never got a Christmas present from his dad the two years he was in prison, " Mills said. " He couldn't care less. " At that time, in the 1990s, she was a single parent trying to make ends meet. " It was really, really tough back then, " she said. That experience left her with a passion to help other children who are in the same situation, with one or both parents incarcerated during the Christmas season, and she began volunteering her time and efforts. Mills knows about hardship. She was born with cerebral palsy and also was diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a neurological disorder, and must use a wheelchair. She also suffers from asthma, emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. " I used to walk and run around, and then as the years have gone on, here I am, " she said, tapping her wheelchair. " It doesn't stop me from doing Angel Tree, because that is my gold. I just love it. I wish it were year-round. " The Prison Fellowship Angel Tree Christmas program connects incarcerated parents with their children by contacting the parent and getting information on the child's age, gender, interests, clothing sizes and other items. This information, along with a personal note from the parent to the child, is placed on angel cards, which are hung on trees in churches and at other organizations. Each child has two angels hanging on the tree - one specifying clothing and one requesting a fun present that matches the child's interests. Volunteers pluck angel cards from the tree, shop for the gifts, wrap them, and coordinators such as Mills see that the gifts and a message of Christ's love are delivered to the children. On Christmas, the children will get the presents from their parents in prison, read the personal notes, and know their moms or dads did not forget them. " It's not about what the parents did, " Mills said. " It's about what the kids need. " Mills has been coordinating the program at Grace Bible Church in Hudson for 12 years. Helping her are Diane Dean and Kim Larsen. " It's a great program, " Larsen said. " It's awesome to see the response of people. Even family members of mine have taken angels from the tree. " Dean agrees. She remembers a time when she and Mills were delivering gifts to a mother with eight children ranging in age from two to adult. The father was in prison for murder. When they knocked on the door, a 3-year-old boy came out to keep them company until the mom could join them. " He said his momma was busy and did we want to make mud pies, " Dean said. " He talked and talked. He had no shoes, but he made sure we were welcome there. We sat in the dirt and played with him. We had a blast. " Grace Bible Church sponsored 28 children this year, and Mills and her volunteers also coordinated gifts for 28 more children through West Coast Florida Credit Union. It takes several time-consuming steps to turn the gift suggestion from the incarcerated parent into a present for the child's Christmas. Each request requires a phone call to the parent or caregiver of the child to make sure the caregiver is OK with having the gift from the incarcerated parent given to the child. Most of the time the parents are happy for the child, but sometimes permission is denied. " There are a lot of men who are incarcerated, and the woman remarries and the husband they marry doesn't want anything to do with the incarcerated parent, " Mills said. " But that's not what this is about. That's where you have to step back and let that child get a gift from that dad. The stepfather is there, putting a roof over the head and food in the stomach, and he can be a better father than the biological dad, but he still needs to back up, because he can never, ever take the place of the dad. " The exception, she said, is if the incarcerated parent is guilty of child sexual abuse. She can understand if the caregiver does not want contact between the child and the abuser. Another step in the process is verifying the information in the requests. Most of the time the requests are valid, but occasionally the parent tries to scam the program. Mills recalls a prisoner who listed nine children on the request form, but in checking, she learned he only had two. " It's funny. I guess they think I'm stupid, but I'm not, " she said. " I can't be. There are too many children out there that need to be covered and it has to be done. " This year, 418 children in Pasco County are in the Prison Fellowship Angel Tree program. Of those, 228 have been taken by churches and organizations for their Angel Trees, but 190 children are left unclaimed. Fifty toys have been donated for those children, which will leave 140 children without a present. Various churches and donors will pick up the slack, but it will probably involve something being mailed to the " left behind " children, not a hand-picked gift from the Angel Tree. HOW YOU CAN HELP For information on donating a $10 gift card that will be mailed to 190 children whose requests were unclaimed, call (954) 315-2213. Specify to the agent that your gift is for Pasco County children. For information, visit www.angeltree.org. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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