Students all around the district have been coming together to help those in need this Christmas through Adopt an Angel. The program presented by LISD provides presents for students who don’t have the resources to afford them.
On December 13, the gifts will be delivered to nearly 3,000 students without a Christmas this year. The goal of Adopt an Angel is for every student to be adopted and help get students necessities and Christmas wishes.
Adopt an Angel founder Allison Stamey has been at the forefront of orchestrating this Christmas charity for 20 years. Student council officers and club members from all over the district help to prepare every year as well as parents, volunteers and co-sponsors.
“This is not only a wonderful giving event where we work hard to give back to our students but also for our students to learn how to organize and plan and work together,” Stamey said. “We couldn’t get this done without our students.”
The program originated in 2002 at Lewisville High School, initially serving 200 students. It is now a district wide program serving over 3,600 students and their families.
In the years before LISD started their own district Adopt an Angel program, Lewisville contributed to provide Christmas presents for those in need through a different charity. Stamey found out the presents bought weren’t directly reaching the students and wanted to change this. This led to a district-run charity event to donate gifts that would go directly to students. After a few years of running the charity, the number of presents grew too large to fit in Lewisville High School. Valley Creek Church offered their Next Steps Center to store and wrap presents. Counselors work directly with students in need to see if they are interested in the program. Signing up for the charity became available during October. The counselors then organized the students’ Christmas wishes and clothes sizes on a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet was released November 1, open for donations to provide students with Christmas gifts.
While preparing presents for students, volunteers wrap each gift, sometimes staying until 10 PM.
Lewisville High School senior Jack Hasten is in his second year of volunteering at Adopt an Angel. He believes that everyone should be able to celebrate during the holiday season.
“I feel like everyone deserves to know what Christmas feels like,” Hasten said.
English teacher Triana Burroughs and her family have volunteered for three years to provide for those in need.
“They need to feel loved and appreciated and that’s what this does,” Burroughs said.
Community member Logan Hughes says he volunteers to give back to his community.
“I think it’s amazing to know that I’m doing something great for the community,” Hughes said. “It lifts up your spirit.”
Past angels have come back to thank Stamey, occasionally even donating and volunteering to help other students who are in the same position they once were in.
Angels that aren’t adopted aren’t left without Christmas gifts. Donations to the charity allow gifts for every student in need.
Two days before gifts are delivered, shoppers buy things for kids that still don’t have presents and also ensure that angels have everything on their wish list. Another priority is making sure that siblings have equal amounts of gifts. Extra money is given to families most in need. With this money, members of our community are able to get groceries and anything they need to help. In some instances, money raised has been able to provide housing until their insurance kicked in for members of the community who have had their house burned down.
Although the time to donate has passed, things you can still do to help are to donate to the LISD Adopt an Angel charity at Bit.ly/LISDADOPTANANGEL.
