Salvation Army of Manatee has busy first day of Angel Tree distribution

“OK runners. Let’s jog in place!”

The usually sweet voice of Annette Horner, social services program coordinator for the The Salvation Army of Manatee County, suddenly had the toughness of a U.S. Marine drill instructor Tuesday as she attempted to get her “runners” all pumped up and ready for this year’s first Salvation Army Angel Tree and Adopt-A-Family Gift Distribution Day.

Nearly 400 needy families, who had signed up for the Angel Tree program back in September to get free Christmas toys and clothing for their “angels,” drove their vehicles in a slow procession behind a 30,000-square-foot donated warehouse at 6505 19th St. W., where Horner’s runners raced shopping carts out to them filled with gifts especially numbered and chosen for their family weeks ago.

The final day of the 2017 Angel Tree Gift Distribution is 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday at the same warehouse, and close to 400 more low-income families are expected to finally drain the huge Oneco-area warehouse of its gift boxes, bringing this year’s total to 793 families, including more than 2,000 children, said Kelly French, a Salvation Army spokeswoman.

Each year, The Salvation Army provides Christmas presents to children, ages newborn to 12 through the Angel Tree and Adopt-A-Family programs, French said. Many of the gifts are donated by individuals and businesses in Manatee County and were prepared for distribution this fall by an army of volunteers

“I really want to thank the community, which really came out to support these kids,” French said. “We had 82 businesses in Manatee County that put up Angel Trees with children’s names on it this year, which is an increase over last year, which was 66,” French added.

Another 14 businesses and organizations held toy drives to support the “Forgotten Angels,” those whose names are not pulled from a tree, French said.

Volunteers had fun

Actually, the volunteers were laughing at Horner’s attempts on Tuesday to sound like a drill sergeant and seemed to be having more fun than the families getting the gifts.

“A friend asked me if I would like to volunteer and I said I would,” said volunteer Mario Camilleri, whose wife, Mona, was also a runner on Tuesday. “I like to help the little kids out. It’s something I have always wanted to do, and some of these kids I see really need it.”

“This is my first year and I love it,” said volunteer Sandi Dyer. “I wish I would have done it sooner. I will be back next year.”

“They are awesome,” Horner said of her volunteers.

Christmas for Maribel’s children.

Maribel Martinez is a single Bradenton mom whose three very young children will have Christmas this year thanks to the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program.

The kids are Magali, 1 month; Marilin, 5, and Danny, 3.

“One of my aunts told me about Angel Tree,” Maribel Martinez said. “It means a lot because without it, I wouldn’t be able to give my kids something for Christmas. The clothes are really important because that’s what they need more.”

“I’m really happy for my two nieces and my nephew,” said Arely Alonso, who also received free gift-wrapping paper.

Warehouse F, which was donated to the Salvation Army this year by its owner, Steve Solomon, made the distribution process a dream come true, French said.

“In years past, the clients would come into our church and stand in line and having their paperwork checked,” French said. “This was a great change.”

This story was originally published December 19, 2017 at 4:12 PM with the headline "Salvation Army of Manatee has busy first day of Angel Tree distribution."