For more than 30 years, Kiwanis of Plant City has set the stage for a merry Christmas for local families thanks to its Christmas for an Angel program.
Thousands of local children will wake up with the present of their dreams under the tree on Christmas morning thanks to the annual Christmas for an Angel program from the Kiwanis Club of Plant City.
For more than 30 years, the organization has quietly left its mark on families throughout the community, usually without the children ever knowing Santa had some help on Christmas Eve. Starting in August, the Kiwanians begin pouring hundreds — or in this year’s case, more than 1,000 — hours into the project.
Anna Reitz, chairman of the project, said it’s become such a tradition in the community that they’ve got the routine down to a T. Small green slips of paper are distributed throughout the schools. The guidance counselors know who among the students would most benefit from the program and get the slips to the families. Each family then writes down the age and gender of their child and details exactly what the child had been dreaming of for Christmas.
“This was started around 31 years ago by Robert Brown,” Reitz said. “He started with 50 students and now it’s blossomed to 1,500 to 2,000 students. It is our major project. Robert was a Kiwanian and he just loved children.”
After the green cards are filled out by the families they get back to Kiwanis, who in turn reaches out to the community. There are several sponsors who come back time and again to fulfill the Christmas wishes, but Kiwanis is always looking for others to step up to the plate.
The slips are placed within blue or pink envelopes and then the sponsor can go shopping and grab exactly what’s on the paper so the child ends up with the toy or gadget of their dreams under the tree. Groups like Progressive Insurance in Riverview, Stingray Chevrolet, South Florida Baptist Hospital, Southside, Billy Herold and Plant City Rotary, Star Distribution and more have made giving back an annual occurrence. Their members and employees pick up the cards, run to the store to find the requested gift and then leave piles of the goodies with Kiwanis.
Kiwanis then bags them up with the slip attached and its members meet up at Commissioner Mike Sparkman’s office to split the schools up between their cars. Loaded from floor to ceiling the members then drive them to the corresponding schools and drop them off. Many parents are already waiting when they arrive to sneak the present home and get it wrapped before their child gets out of class.
Some kids ask for board games, others for a special doll or LEGO set. Some even ask for a bicycle. Regardless of the Christmas wish, the community pulls through and come Christmas morning there are cheers of delight in homes across town.
If they receive any donations that aren’t designated to a specific child and end up as “leftover gifts,” they give the items to Kiwanis member Sharon Moody who uses them as gifts for the annual Santa Sled Festival, which helps hundreds of children and their families every year.
“When you think of all of the children in Plant City that would not have something underneath the tree if it weren’t for this program, well, that gives you the momentum you need to put in the hours and the work and make sure this is a success,” Reitz said. “And believe me, some of these kids wouldn’t have anything under the tree. But they will have something if they go through this program. One year I got the call that there were seven children that were struggling to have food, let alone presents, on Christmas. They were in a camper and I grabbed a turkey and some toys and let me tell you what, they had themselves a Christmas. That’s why we do this. And if they go through the program we never even have to know their names. All of this is based off of the age and if they’re a boy or a girl and then off of their request. We take it from there. It’s a wonderful program.”
Kiwanis goes to 17 different schools with the Christmas for an Angel program and are always looking for more sponsors to get on board so they can further expand the program to even more children in need. While the club works on it year-round, the ball really gets rolling each August. If you’re interested in partnering with the group next year, call Reitz at 759-9546. Simply tell her how many children you would like to sponsor and she’ll make sure the slips get in your hand in the fall so you will have ample time to buy the gift.
