What’s Angel Tree? Families who request Christmas assistance through The Salvation Army can complete a wishlist of clothing and gift items that are then turned into angel tags. People in the community can then adopt that angel and purchase items on those lists and return the gifts to The Salvation Army for delivery. For thousands of families, this adoption process has become a Christmas giving tradition in their communities. Through the JCPenney partnership, angels can be adopted and shopped for online at their website or through their facebook page.

“In the first year of introducing this program online, nearly 40,000 Angels from across the country were adopted last Christmas,” said Thomas M. Nealon, group executive vice president. “Now, more than ever, customers want to make a difference during the holidays. JCPenney has made it easier for customers to give back in a meaningful way and we feel confident that support for those less fortunate will only continue to grow.”

The online Angel Giving Tree program allows customers to adopt an Angel at jcp.com/angel and request an Angel by location, age range and gender. An Angel who matches the criteria will be e-mailed to the customer along with a list of requested items. Supporters have the convenience and flexibility of purchasing gifts at jcp.com, in JCPenney stores or at any retailer they choose.

With program support from UPS, Angel Giving Tree gifts purchased through jcp.com can be shipped free of charge to the corresponding Salvation Army collection center. The confirmation e-mail will also include a link to drop-off locations in the recipient’s area and ship-to addresses for online orders placed at jcp.com or at other retailers. In order to ensure delivery by Christmas, adoptions and online purchases must be made before Dec. 10. Supporters may also purchase JCPenney Gift Cards through Dec. 14, which will be delivered to Angels so they can buy an item on their wish list. “

“The Salvation Army is preparing for what is expected to be another record number of families seeking help this Christmas,” said Major George Hood, national community relations and development secretary for The Salvation Army. “With the need greater than ever, we appreciate JCPenney’s commitment to continue this program so that more children and seniors living in poverty can experience the joy that one small Christmas gift can bring.”

Reach USA/ValPak and Jim Brantley – We honored them for helping us get the word out. In our efforts to use our donor support to do the most good, The Salvation Army uses less than 1/2% of our budget to advertise and market our organization and services. Reach USA/ValPak works with us to get the most out of those dollars, offering reduced rate and sometimes even free space in their publications. And in 2009, Reach USA/ValPak was our WIBC Radiothon Phone Bank sponsor – donating their dollars and their employees’ time answering phones and helping out at Emmis. Jim offers his time and talent serving on our Advisory Board and Development Committee as well. Thanks, Reach USA/ValPak!

Two Men and a Truck and Drew Werling – We honored Two Men for all of the support their offer by transporting coat and toy donations during our annual Coats for Kids and WISHTree/Angel Tree collection drives. That’s no small task to pick up thousands of coats and toys from locations all over the city and get them efficiently to us to distribute to thousands of families in need. Two Men is also a title sponsor of our Homelessness Bites campaign for homeless and abused women and children. Drew believed in us when the campaign started and has supported us every step of the way. And we can’t forget the dozens of boxes they’ve donated to ship Operation Compassion care packages to our troops serving overseas. Thanks, Two Men!

And finally, a special thanks to our Advisory Board Chair, Diane Nichols (Perkins Nichols Media) for her tireless efforts to promote the brand and cause of The Salvation Army.

We are so appreciative that we could share the evening with friends from Kroger, WISH TV-8, the Northwest Indianapolis Kiwanis and Tuchman Cleaners as well. Thanks for taking the time to see how your support changes lives.

If you’d like to partner with The Salvation Army, give Kristen a call at 224-1019.

Indy Moms Like Me is a social networking group here in Indy where moms can come together and discuss all things “mom” – from parenting to support groups to volunteer opportunities and recipes.

Are you an Indy Mom? (If not, you can join here) If you are, join The Salvation Army group and encourage others to join us on Monument Circle on Saturday, December 12 to ring bells at the kettles and bring a toy down to donate for Angel Tree.

The bike enthusiasts brought with them over 700 toys which will be distributed to children in need during The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree distribution at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in a few weeks. Last year, over 13,000 toys were collected and distributed to families in need through Salvation Army toy programs.

The organizer of the Circle City Toy Run, Ron “Bumber” Herron says that he runs the annual event in honor of his Mother, Dorothy Herron, who was big supporter of The Salvation Army. Captain Marcos Ramirez expressed his gratitude for the generous gift as he spoke to the participants. “Your generosity is going to make a difference in hundreds of children’s lives. You’ve warmed my heart today,” said Captain Ramirez.

You can find out more about The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree and WISHtree programs by visiting IndyWISHTree.org.

WISH TV-8 anchorman, Eric Halvorson kicked off his fifth season as Chair at our Tree of Lights ceremony this morning. Community leaders and volunteers gathered to show support in raising this year’s campaign goal of $3 million – the largest goal ever set by The Salvation Army in Central Indiana. That’s an ambitious goal in a tough economic climate, but with requests for assistance soaring, we will need every last dollar to continue to provide food, shelter, utility and holiday assistance to our neighbors in need.

Walmart has generously agreed to once again serve as our Tree of Lights tree sponsor. Also joining us at this morning’s kick-off event was our 15th annual WIBC Radiothon team of Radiothon Chair and Pacers’ VP of Communications, Quinn Buckner and Terri Stacy and Joe Staysniak of the WIBC Morning Show. And special music was provided by the St. Richard’s singers and The Salvation Army Brass Ensemble. Our Divisional Commanders Majors Richard and Vicki Amick encouraged each of us to help our communities in need – if just one in ten people in Marion County could donate just $30 each, we’d collect that $3 million by Christmas! Now that’s not so unattainable.

We’d like to thank our corporate partners for their attendance and support this holiday season – Jerome Rauch – Walmart, John Elliott – Kroger and Jay Ricker – Ricker’s Oil and am/pm convenience stores and Two Men and A Truck. Thanks to Dunkin’ Donuts and GFS Marketplace for providing coffee and hot cocoa to all. Of course, we couldn’t have a tree lighting ceremony without our partners at Barth Electric. Thanks to the folks at WISH TV-8 for loaning Eric to us and for hosting and promoting the WISHTree toy collections throughout the season and at the December 13 Colts game at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Of course, this is just the beginning of the season for us. If you’d like to involve your business or organization, we’d love to have you join us! WIBC Radiothon hourly sponsorships and in-kind sponsorships are still available at WIBCRadiothon.org. Or, you can become a toy collection site and host a collection box – last year we were able to play Santa to over 900 families because of donations collected in offices and store fronts across Central Indiana! Ring a bell, host an on-line red kettle or just drop a few bucks in the kettle as you go by. With a $3 million goal, we can use all the help we can get!

We began accepting applications for Christmas assistance at the beginning of November. This year, we saw a 150% increase in requests in the first day! We need your help to meet the need. In 2008, we were able to help over 900 families through the support of our community. With so many more in need, we know our goal has to be higher – you can help.

We’ll be collecting toys throughout the city from now until December 14. You can also host a collection drive at your office or storefront. Just give Crissy a call at 224-1017 and we’ll get a collection box to you right away! You can also bring a toy to the WIBC Radiothon on December 12 on Monument Circle. Or even drop off a toy on the way into the December 13 Colts game at Lucas Oil Stadium. (The folks at WISH TV-8 will be passing out Colts collector posters to all who donate that day.)

If everyone gives what they have, no one goes without!

“In a year when so many need help, the new online Angel Giving Tree program will extend our reach and make it easier for our customers and Associates to give back this holiday season,” said Mike Boylson, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for JCPenney. “By leveraging the strength of jcp.com, we are helping to modernize an American tradition – the Angel Tree program – and creating an innovative way to help families in need in our communities across the nation. Launching this program with The Salvation Army allows us to elevate our support for a cause that is extremely important to our customers and Associates, underscoring our focus on the ‘Joy of Giving’ this holiday season.”

The new online Angel Giving Tree program builds on the legacy of The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program that has been in operation for more than 40 years. “We are excited about this new online Angel Giving Tree program with JCPenney that will allow The Salvation Army to build upon a great Christmas tradition by reaching a new online audience,” said Major George Hood, national community relations and development secretary for The Salvation Army. “With the winter months around the corner, we appreciate this opportunity to inspire the American public to make a better Christmas for the millions of children and seniors living in poverty. One small gift can bring joy to a Salvation Army Angel this Christmas.”

Created in collaboration with JCPenney partners Razorfish, Akamai Technologies, Sapient and Tata, the online Angel Giving Tree program allows customers to adopt an Angel at jcp.com/angel and conveniently shop for them online at jcp.com, in JCPenney stores or at any location they choose. In a few easy steps, customers can visit the site to request an Angel by location, age range and gender. An Angel who matches the criteria will be e-mailed to the customer along with a list of needed items. The confirmation e-mail will also include a link to view drop-off locations in the customer’s area and ship-to addresses for online orders. In collaboration with FedEx Ground, Angel Giving Tree gifts purchased through jcp.com can be shipped free of charge to any one of the 1,200 Salvation Army collection centers nationwide – putting the entire selection, shopping and delivery process at the customer’s fingertips.

Supporting the online Angel Giving Tree program will be a multimedia marketing campaign including in-store, print, online and e-mail advertising as well as social media initiatives through Facebook Connect. JCPenney Facebook fans will be able to access the Angel Giving Tree website directly as well as post and share their Angel adoption with their friends. The online Angel Giving Tree program builds on JCPenney’s legacy of operating in an ethical and socially responsible manner. In 2007, the Company launched its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative – C.A.R.E.S. – stemming from the vision that JCPenney cares for its Community, Associates, Responsible Sourcing, Environment and Sustainable Products. The Company’s commitment to social responsibility reflects its philosophy that “Every Day Matters” – for its customers, Associates, communities, investors and suppliers. Additional information on JCPenney’s CSR initiatives can be found at http://www.jcpenney.net/about/social_resp/default.aspx

To those of you who participated in our annual Christmas toy drive – whether you donated a toy, hosted a collection site at your business or gave of your time to help moms and dads shop for gifts at the Toy Shop  – THANK YOU! More than 13,000 toys were collected and purchased this season through our Angel Tree and WISH Tree collection drive – you gave more than $15,000 outside Lucas Oil Stadium, online and by mail.

It’s a huge undertaking to serve that many families. Over 100 volunteers as well as on-air personalities from WISH-TV helped parents shop at our annual distribution day – our Toy Shop at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. And thanks to our friends at WARM 93.9 for keeping the tunes coming for those waiting to shop. That little extra Christmas cheer went a long way!

The need was great. While last year, about 700 families applied for the program, nearly 30% more moms and dads needed a little help making Christmas merry and bright for their families this year. We weren’t sure we could serve all who applied, but due to a healthy dose of divine intervention, generous mentions on-air by our media partners and some good old Hoosier generosity, this year was our most successful Toy Shop to date!

Of course, we couldn’t do what we do without our partners, so thanks to the folks at WISH-TV, the Indianapolis Colts, our Angel Tree and WISH Tree partners, our volunteers, and the thousands of Hoosiers who donated. When you sit around the tree opening your gifts next week, you can feel good knowing that your donations helped make it a Merry Christmas for 900 families. Now that’s “Doing the Most Good”!

Check out our Toy Shop TargetList on Target’s website. You’ll find “TargetLists” in the upper right corner. Click on the list and enter “The Salvation Army” for the first name and “Indiana Division” for the last name and choose “Indiana” for the state. You’ll see this:

The Salvation Army – Indiana Division – IN

Created For: The Salvation Army
List Type: Christmas

Event Date: December 17, 2008
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Created By: The Salvation Army Indiana Division

List Message: Last year, The Salvation Army Toy Shop provided Christmas for 1,700 Indianapolis children. Your donation through Target.com will help us continue “Doing the Most Good” for our littlest neighbors in need this Christmas.

What follows is a wishlist of toys  – like a virtual Angel Tree. Instead of going to one of our Central Indiana toy collection sites, you can select one or more toys on the TargetList and they will be shipped to us in time for Toy Shop on December 17th. You can also choose to purchase gift cards for kids who are a little too old for toys, but not too old to find something special under the tree.

So, while you’re shopping on-line playing Santa to your kids, you can help parents who are struggling this year play Santa to theirs!