Like Santa Claus, Amanda Johnson has a lot of lists. And in the months before Christmas, she checking them more than twice.
“We check everything multiple times,” Amanda said.
Amanda is the person in charge of Angel Tree, a community program that in the past, provided children in Clinton with a gift to open on Christmas morning. This year, it has expanded to include children who live in Henry County.
“We went from Clinton to taking on the whole county,” Amanda said. said.
Amanda, who works at Gary’s Towing, started heading up Angel Tree in October of 2020. How it works: children from families whose budgets don’t stretch to Christmas gifts fill out a form to receive gifts, both essentials and a toy specific to the child’s age and interests. The child’s information is put on an angel-shaped tag, which is put on Christmas trees in businesses around the area and on the Clinton Square. People choose an angel, and “adopt” that child by buying gifts.
Last year, Amanda had 453 kids on her list, she said.
“The line of parents coming to pick up gifts went down the block and around the corner,” she said.
Angel Tree has grown from a backroom at Integrity Flooring to its own warehouse, at 219 S. Main, where the volunteers can store items people buy and donate throughout the year. It has also grown in terms of the community partners and businesses that help cover the need, Amanda said. Angel Tree partners with Christmas Cheer, Rotary, the Optimists and businesses, who mainly provide the essentials on wish lists — socks and underwear for school children, or diapers and baby wipes for infants.
Last year was hard, she said, because it was the first year that kids put food on their Christmas wish list. She still tears up when she thinks of it.
“I don’t feel kids should have to ask for food for Christmas,” she said.
But with more homeless teenagers in the county, food is what they ask for, she said, not video games. Warm clothing is also request that Angel Tree works with Christmas Cheer’s coat drive program to fill. Amanda said they are planning to get coats distributed in October. Other needs are bedsheets and linens.
“One girl asked to have her bedroom insulated, so it wouldn’t be so cold,” Amanda said.
Angel Tree was started by DECA, a student group, then was taken over by Bright Futures, the school-community coalition to support students and classrooms. Angel Tree still works with schools, Amanda said, but it is no longer part of Bright Futures. Oak Star Bank, Four Seasons In-Home Services and Adkins Printing are big supporters of the program, she said.
“Last year, Adkins Printing wrapped three truckloads of presents,” Amanda said.
Parents or grandparents pick up the gifts before Christmas to put out on Christmas morning. Gifts can be donated unwrapped, or wrapped and tagged if you adopt a child to give gifts to. The amount of money spent on gifts is left to the discretion of the giver, she said, because the cost of presents for a 3-month old child differs from those for a teenager.
To make sure each child in a family receives a comparable number of gifts, Angel Tree practices “fluffing,” Amanda said, to even up the gifts.
“I want every kid, even a 14-year-old, to wake up on Christmas and have that Santa sparkle in the eyes,” Amanda said.
Her goal is to make every kid’s Christmas like she would like it, she said. Amanda grew up in Blue Springs, Mo. She moved to Clinton in 2017 with her husband and children. She had offered to help out in the past with Angel Tree, and when the other Amanda Johnson in town who was in charge of the program didn’t want to do it anymore, Amanda and her family stepped in.
Angel Tree incorporated this year, she said. Monetary donations are also appreciated.
Amanda’s family in town and in the Kansas City area are her elves, she said. All know that until all the Angel Tree gifts are bought and wrapped, she doesn’t buy any for the family. October and November are rough months for her, as reading children’s wish lists makes for emotional ups and downs. She keeps lists both in a book and on a computer.
“It’s organized chaos,” she said of the process of making sure every child gets gifts, both practical and something fun. “Imagine what it would be like to go to school after Christmas, and listen to everyone talk about the gifts they got, and you got socks and underwear.”
Grandparents of older grandchildren who adopt an angel from the tree say they enjoy buying toys for young children again, and take their grandchildren along on the shopping trip and to drop off gifts to help them remember that not everyone is as fortunate as they are.
Angel Trees go up in businesses by mid-November, Amanda said, and businesses can receive tags before that. The more trees, the more angels are adopted by local Santas.
And the more smiles on Christmas morning, when children get up and to see what Santa brought them. Contact Amanda at Gary’s Towing, 660-885-4357.
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