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| Greylock Federal Credit Union sponsored a BCAC Giving Tree last year. Here, Greylock President/CEO Marilyn Sperling and Marketing Promotions and Partnerships Manager Victoria May pose with the many gifts collected from local residents. Photo from Greylock.org. |
Making a child’s Christmas wish come true is one of the season’s greatest gifts, according to Gigi Yablonsky, educational content producer for Winstanley Partners.
Nothing makes her holiday more memorable, she says, than choosing an ornament from a ‘wish tree’ – one that is decorated by a wide variety of nonprofit assistance organizations with the gift wishes of disadvantaged children – and setting out to find the perfect present.
Wish trees, or giving trees, can often be found in post offices, libraries, and businesses in communities everywhere. Gigi and her husband Jack like to try to find a different tree each year, and this Christmas, chose an ornament representing a 12-year-old girl interested in craft and art supplies from a Berkshire Community Action Council Giving Tree at Berkshire Gas. Last year, BCAC’s Sponsor-a-Child Christmas program supplied 3,600 low-income children with Christmas gifts.
“For me, this is the most enjoyable part of Christmas,” she said. “I am always faced with the dilemma of buying gifts for people who don’t need anything… this is a totally different kind of giving experience. I had a wonderful time buying clothes and craft supplies. I threw in candy, books, and jewelry. I love to get the name and particulars of a specific child – age, sizes, interests, special requests – and then put together a Christmas for that child.”