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Salvation Army collects toys for annual “Angel Tags” program
CANFIELD
The hallways of Canfield High School have been abuzz recently.
The topic students have been talking about? What toys they donated to the Salvation Army’s Angel Tag program this year.
“It’s really interesting to see the whole school come together,” said district spokeswoman Renee English. “You can’t be around the school without someone talking about Angel Tags.”
On Wednesday morning, the Salvation Army stopped by the school to pick up the 500-plus items students and staff collected this year. This week the organization is making stops all over Mahoning County, at the more than 40 schools, businesses and organizations that participate in the program.
The large donation makes Canfield High School one of the program’s top contributors, said Major Valerie Kahn, who along with her husband directs the Salvation Army’s Mahoning County services. “Oh my gosh,” she gushed. “They’re at the top, as far as how many tags they take. ... They love doing this. It’s a big deal to them, and it’s super big to us.”
This year, the school took 325 “tags,” each of which represents a child who is registered for the Salvation Army’s Christmas assistance program. While each tag represents one child, Kahn said donors usually buy more than one gift per tag.
This year, Kahn said, nearly 1,800 children are registered for Christmas assistance. Last year, the Salvation Army was able to distribute 9,800 items.
Before Christmas, the organization will open a Christmas store where families can shop for presents.
“What we’ve tried to achieve is to open up assistance for families at the Christmas season, when they may have to make a choice between paying a bill, paying rent or a mortgage, putting food on the table, or getting a few items for their kids for Christmas. We don’t want any children to go without during Christmas time,” said Kahn.
“It also allows us to serve our families with dignity, because they’re actually doing the shopping. ... They’re actually able to go through and choose items they know their child or children would really like.
“It’s really what Christmas is all about – being able to show love and mercy and grace,” she added.
Being able to show love to others is what gets Canfield students excited for the Angel Tags collection, said student council President Kate Hartshorn.
“I think it’s really cool for the students that they’re blessing families in this way,” she said.
“It’s cool to know that you’re affecting families in such as way that they don’t have to worry about the money they’re spending. They just have to worry about spending time” with family.