In the spirit of the holiday season, MSC Aggie Leaders of Tomorrow, or ALOT, is partnering with the Salvation Army to collect gifts for children in need.
MSC ALOT is holding the Angel Tree program until Friday, Nov. 20 for students to donate items to underprivileged children within Bryan-College Station. To adopt an angel, they can sign up at one of the tables in Rudder Plaza or Quadbucks on a weekday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or through their website. All gifts will be distributed to children for the holidays.
Vijay Joshi, mechanical engineering junior and MSC ALOT chair, said the Angel Tree program is a good opportunity for the organization to positively influence the community.
“Our purpose as a freshman leadership organization is to provide programs and service opportunities that foster leadership and personal growth for students,” Joshi said. “Angel Tree is a program that we host at Texas A&M for a partnership with the Salvation Army, and it serves as a way to provide gifts to economically disadvantaged children and their families in the Bryan-College Station area during holiday seasons.”
Specifically, Abi Dickson, freshman on Blinn TEAM and member of the marketing subcommittee, said that although the events MSC ALOT holds are often campus-based, the Angel Tree program is dedicated to more of a widespread community outreach.
“Because of the poverty rates in the Bryan-College Station area, spreading that Christmas spirit to those [children] that need it is definitely much appreciated and needed,” Dickson said. “Knowing that everyone that signs up is directly influencing and making someone’s life better… is empowering on both sides.”
Trent Scott, electronic systems engineering technology junior and executive director of Angel Tree, said there are convenient sign up options provided for students who want to get involved.
“Students can adopt right here on campus,” Scott said. “At the tables and also on our social media, there’s a link that you go [to] that brings you to the Salvation Army database where you select your preference on gender or age for your angel. You select up to five at a time, and from there, you have all the information on their needs and wants.”
After selecting their angels, Scott said multiple places are available for students to then drop off the gifts they have bought.
“We have a location at Rudder Plaza on [Nov.] 19 and 20, and also, there’s an alternative location to drop off at Post Oak Mall,” Scott said. “The Salvation Army distributes each gift directly to each child to make sure that they have gifts and things that they usually would not have for the holiday season.”
Joshi said there is a wide range of items that can be donated to help the children celebrate this festive time.
“It’s a case-by-case basis depending on the angel you adopt, but historically, they have asked for things like toys… or bikes and then also clothes, [such as] socks, shirts [and] jackets,” Joshi said. “We’ve in the past donated up to 1,000 gifts plus per year for angels. We’re hoping that no matter what levels we obtain in terms of donations that it’ll definitely make an impact for the families here.”
Thus far, Scott said he is happy with all the progress that has been made with adopting angels and is excited to see where it will lead in the next few weeks of the program.
“In years past in the Bryan-College Station area, there’ve been around 2,000 angels that need to be adopted. While we don’t adopt all of them, we try to help the Salvation Army as much as we can by bringing some of those angels to be adopted right here on campus,” Scott said. “With COVID[-19], everyone’s been affected differently… and so this year especially, to bring these gifts [can] make their season a little brighter.”