Special Thanks to Yvelise Pestourie who created the beautiful angel artwork above in support of our 2018 Angel sponsorship drive. A1 Orange created thank-you coasters for all angel sponsors using this artwork.
Every year the need seems to be greater, and every year our friends and business partners jump in to support The Salvation Army Angel Tree program with us. This year, our goal was to sponsor 100 Angels from the Orlando, Jacksonville, and Tampa areas. When all was said and done, 111 Angels were sponsored as part of our drive. Thank you so much for your amazing support of this program which provides Christmas smiles to so many children.
This year’s drive started in early October, when A1 Orange began publicizing the event on Facebook and via emails — with nearly 70 people stepping up to sponsor one or more angels. According to Brenda Dost, “This is a tradition continues to grow, with several long time donors who sponsor 1 or 2, and up to 4 angels each year, and adding sponsors mostly from the companies of business partners who spread the word in their offices.” Several property management companies had 8 -10 individuals sponsoring Angels!
Some highlights of this year’s drive:
- We expanded our program’s geographic reach, adding angels The Tampa Bay Area Salvation Army to the mix, in addition to Orlando and Jacksonville.
- One company adopted an angel, and the entire office contributed clothing and gifts! The items arrived in a large decorated box filled to overflowing for a young boy Angel.
- The Monday before Thanksgiving, we received an email asking if there were 8 more Angels available — and most of the sponsors were new to The Salvation Army Angel program!
Many A1 Orange team members get in on the action, from organizing and promoting the drive, to 
accepting donations at our office, to adopting angels and taking the donations to The Salvation Army for distribution. One A1 Orange team member who was unaware of our work with The Salvation Army Angel Tree program was asked to deliver one of the last loads to the Orlando toy center. When he arrived at The Salvation Army Toy Center, a volunteer said, “A1 Orange — you’re back again? Wow, how many angels did you have?!” When he returned, he said that he was very proud that we were part of this program!”
It takes a village to meet the needs of families in our area and we are honored that so many generous friends and business partners join us in this effort every year. As we share the holidays with our families and friends this Christmas season, we can enjoy the warmth of giving to others and knowing that children will be smiling on Christmas as a result of our efforts.
