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March 14th 2010 09:36 AM

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Angel Tree

Article featured in Avatar - Volume 3, Issue 6 (December 2009).

Angel Tree
by Katrina

Twenty-seven years ago, Mary Kay Beard, who was on America's Most Wanted at the time and serving a 180-year sentence at the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women in Alabama had a change of heart near Christmas time as she served her sentence. Outsiders would bring the inmates small soaps and toiletries, and rather than keeping these for personal use, many of the inmates wrapped them up as gifts for their children. During her time in prison, Beard managed to get her time shorted to just six years. Once she was out on parole, she accepted the position of Alabama State Director and was asked to create some sort of holiday project involving inmates. Realizing that the real victims were the children and families of these inmates, she organized a group that set out to deliver gifts to children of incarcerated parents. She received a suggestion to write the names of the children on angel shaped pieces of paper, creating an "Angel Tree" at a local mall in Alabama.

Only one of the six million stories made better by Angel Tree, a young girl, Angel, as the daughter of a mother who had been in prison three times and was currently serving her third sentence, became a very angry and saddened soul. During one of the hardest points in Angel's life, a local church raised money to send her to camp where she was able to forgive her mom. Angel Tree works to help others like Angel develop strong relationships with their parents through showing these children that there are people out there who care about them.

"...it's so much more than giving Christmas gifts - it's about restoring families."

The first year, Angel Tree gave gifts to 556 children. Today, Angel Tree is expanding rapidly and actually delivers gifts throughout the year. However, especially around the holidays, this organization needs help to deliver gifts to all of the children of incarcerated parents. To find out more, please visit: [http://www.angeltree.org].

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