The Columbia County Angel Tree at Southern Arkansas University still has around 120 children left to be sponsored, so organizers are extending the angel adoption deadline a week to 5 p.m. Friday, December 18.
The Angel Tree is located in the SAU Housing office at Reynolds Center room 218. It is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
According to Sandra Martin, SAU dean of students and director of housing, monetary donations have also been less this year than in year’s past. She hopes that extending the deadline will allow time for all the angels to get adopted so the children in Columbia County can have a chance at a happy holiday.
Gifts are due back by 5 p.m. on December 18, and angel sponsors are suggested to spend around $50 for each angel child. For those who cannot afford to sponsor an angel, any gift of money contribution will be appreciated. Donations can be mailed to 100 East University, MSC 9431. Checks should be made out to SAU, with “Angel Tree” in the memo line.
Last year’s Angel Tree at SAU and all the contributors brightened the holidays for 146 families and more than 500 children. A sponsor more than 750 miles away last year, Felicia Gatson-Johnson, became a sponsor last year with a $1,000 gift to help fund some of the remaining angels after local efforts were exhausted and national media publicized the need.
The Angel Tree serves children in need from infancy through high school seniors by providing sponsors with information about each child’s age, gender, sizes and gift requests. It also serves as an economic engine to the local economy. Even conservative estimates suggest that sponsors donate more than $40,000 in clothing, toys and electronics every year.
Since 2008, the Angel Tree has been at SAU. From 2008-2013, it was co-coordinated by two student organizations – Lambda Alpha Beta (the Chemistry Club) and Sigma Tau Delta (the English Honor Society). For the past two years, it has been headed up by University Housing at SAU. For several years prior to 2008, the Magnolia Housing Authority coordinated the county’s Angel Tree efforts.
