NTFB Spreads Holiday Spirit with Gifts for 230+ Families

The food bank’s annual Angel Tree program served nearly four times as many families this year thanks to community support and partnerships.

^{A couple poses with Santa during the NTFB and Jubilee Park Community Clinic’s Holiday Community Party.}

The North Texas Food Bank helped provide holiday gifts to more than 230 families through its annual Angel Tree program.

“It’s so meaningful to be able to help and know this is one less thing they have to worry about,” says Tonya Edwards, NTFB Director of SNAP & Social Services Assistance. “We served families who’ve lost jobs, single moms, women who’ve faced domestic violence and others who are just struggling to make ends meet.”

NTFB staff adopted several families and delivered gifts for children, parents and older adults. Families and staff at Primrose School of Breckinridge Park also provided toys and gifts for 120 children, and the charity Diamond Wishes donated several pallets of toys to the effort.

Maria, a single mom to three kids who was referred to the NTFB by Children’s Health, said without the Angel Tree program, she wouldn’t have had any gifts for her children this year. She’s only able to work three days a week and said she’s simply not making enough to cover all of their expenses, let alone something extra, like a Christmas present.

^{Maria and her two youngest children pose with some of their Angel Tree gifts.}

“I am so grateful because I didn’t have a way to get gifts for my children,” says Maria. “Thank God for your help.”

With the gifts received from Diamond Wishes, NTFB’s Social Services Assistance team partnered with the Jubilee Park Community Clinic and the Dallas Police Department Jubilee Park Storefront to host a Holiday Community Party on December 7. During the event, registered families were provided with toys for their children and nearly 200 boxes of food were distributed. Families also received $50 Albertsons/Tom Thumb gift cards to help them provide holiday meals.

Thanks to a gift from Amazon, NTFB staff had materials to set up a backdrop for photos with Santa during the event, to host a hot chocolate bar and to provide crafts for the kids, including bracelet making and cookie decorating. In total, nearly 350 individuals from over 175 families were served during the community party.

^{NTFB’s Social Services Assistance team wraps Angel Tree gifts.}

Primrose School of Breckinridge Park first partnered with NTFB in the fall, when they helped provide school supplies to families facing hunger, and they wanted to get involved in the Angel Tree program to ensure families had holiday gifts for their children. Staff and families collected enough toys to fill one of the school’s small buses.

“One of the greatest qualities of Breckinridge Park team is their willingness to give back to the community and their commitment in partnering with the NTFB,” says Miriam Castillo, an NTFB Child Programs Coordinator who set the partnership with the school in motion.

The NTFB has hosted an internal Angel Tree Program for several years, but with the new partnerships formed this year, the program served nearly four times as many families as it has in the past.

^{Kids work on crafts during the NTFB and Jubilee Park Community Clinic’s Holiday Community Party.}