Salvation Army distributes thousands of gifts to Central Texas children

AUSTIN, Texas - The Salvation Army is distributing gifts to thousands of Central Texas children who are in need this Christmas.

FOX 7 Austin's Rebecca Thomas spoke with Major Lewis Reckline with the Salvation Army to learn more about the organization's Angel Tree program, and how you can help out.

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REBECCA THOMAS: The program means so much to the kids who participate every year. Tell us about how it works and what people in the community are doing to bring Christmas to those families in need.

LEWIS RECKLINE: So we started signing folks up in September. We have just under 7,000 children this year. Our families are needing help to get their children a great Christmas. And you see the Angel Trees throughout town, you know, at the malls and at Walmarts. And the community comes together, and they get a name of a child off of a tree, and they see what that child wants for Christmas, and they bring it to us. So we package it together and we distribute to the families. And so it is a really neat thing to see with the numbers. And this community this year has gone above and beyond what you can imagine. I was talking to someone about last night, we are amazed at how generous the community has been this year, and these children are very well taken care of.

REBECCA THOMAS: The COVID pandemic fueled a major spike in the number of people struggling financially. Seems things are starting to get better, but are you still seeing a big need here in central Texas?

LEWIS RECKLINE: Yeah, we are, because one of the things to be reminded is that there are those who are still going to be marginalized in one way or another. And so, you know, it takes every penny that they may to be able to put food on the table and pay all the bills. Christmas will surprise you, and suddenly it's here. And so they do need assistance. So they are reaching out to us, and we're very fortunate that we're able to help them.

REBECCA THOMAS: The Angel Tree program has been going on for decades. It started back in 1979. How has it changed over the years, and what should we expect for its future?

LEWIS RECKLINE: I think the way it's changed is that it's just become more popular, both with the need as well as with the folks who want to help. And so I don't know that changes will be made. Simply the fact that as long as there's a need, that community reaches out and helps these families and that on Christmas morning, the children see that Santa Claus came, which to me is the most important part of that.

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REBECCA THOMAS: Now, we've all seen the bell ringers as we get closer to Christmas. What can people do to help with the Salvation Army's Red Kettle campaign?

LEWIS RECKLINE: They can go to doingmostgood.org. We could use volunteer bell ringers, because we have plenty of spots available, and that generates income that helps cover the cost of everything we do all year long.

REBECCA THOMAS: Again, those who are not familiar with the Red Kettle campaign and what the Salvation Army does: enlighten us, please.  

LEWIS RECKLINE: So here we have two family shelters where we house about 300 folks a night, full families that are women and children. And it helps us to to help them with the services to get them back on their feet, back into permanent supportive housing, and to be able to sustain our livelihoods for years to come. And then we walk with them for two years after they leave our program, and we continue to manage them. If something were to come up, and they need help, we're there for them. And that's what these programs help provide. And we have a waitlist. Last week our waitlist was over 600 folks waiting to get in our shelter, and over 350 of them were children. So the need is huge.