Christmas spirit is in the air, and Algonquin teamed up with The Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa to host the Angel Tree program.
The Angel Tree was set up in Connections until Dec. 10, where students or faculty can go to the tree, pick an angel with a name of a less fortunate child on it and buy them a Christmas present.
“Companies like Algonquin or individuals contact me and request a number of members that they would like to buy for,” said Stacie Stephenson, part of the fundraising administration and Angel Tree at BGCO. “I give them different ages and genders and they purchase toys for those specific children. The Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa (BGCO) then picks up the toys and wraps them.”
The Angel tree was done as a way to give less fortunate children the Christmas that they deserve. The tree was put up in the Connection’s store the first weekend of December and was up until Dec. 10, after which the presents were picked up by the BGCO and delivered to the children from Santa at the club’s holiday party for the kids and their families on Dec 19.
This is the second year that Algonquin has done the Angel Tree Program with the BGCO. Last year it was held in the Mamidosewin centre, but because of the location and lack of advertising the Angel Tree program wasn’t as successful as it is was this year.
“This year, a week after putting up the tree, we’ve already run out of angels,” said Anelise Babcock, ancillary marketing coordinator at Algonquin. “I’m calling already to try and get more angels to put back on the tree.”
The program has been very successful at the college, and has more than surpassed its goal having more angels taken off the tree in one week then all of last year when the program ran.
“Everybody really likes this program,” said Babcock. “I’m surprised that after one week all the angels were gone but that’s what we want, and it’s such a feel good thing to do during the holidays.”
With great results like the ones the Angel Tree program received, it’s something that will be going on for years to come.
“The joy of giving back is contagious,” said Stephenson. “We love spreading joy and will do whatever we can to make each year a success.”
