County Road 11: Salvation Army Angel Tree

MERIDIAN, Miss. (WTOK) - Citizens National Bank and the Salvation Army are once again teaming up to help local children in need hopefully enjoy the upcoming holiday season.

Due to COVID concerns, the annual Salvation Army Angel Tree Kickoff program at Citizens National Bank in downtown Meridian could not take place. However, that will not stop the annual campaign that’s been taking place in this community for over 25 years now.

“So you get to pick out some things, maybe something from your childhood that you liked," says Lt. Tamara Robb of the Salvation Army. "You get to go and pick that angel out. The bag is attached so you put the gifts right back in the bag and the angel stays on there and in a couple of weeks we give it out just in time for Christmas.”

“You can come in an adopt a child from one of the Christmas trees," says Neil Henry, Regional President of Citizens National Bank in Meridian. "You can take the name tag home with you. The best part of this is doing this with your family. When you do that, it’s fun to shop with the child and all we ask is you bring back the unwrapped Christmas by Friday, December 10th.”

According to Henry, the angel trees will go up soon at all Citizens National Bank locations in Meridian, Quitman and Philadelphia and the community will have until December 10th to pick out an angel and go shopping. The Salvation Army will then distribute all the gifts to children in their four county service area of Lauderdale, Kemper, Neshoba and Newton counties.

“This is who we’re impacting and helping. And when you say local we believe in the power of local. We believe in our community and what better way to help serve our kids.”

Robb added that it makes it extra special to see area kids receive those gifts for Christmas that they probably wouldn’t have gotten. “And for us to have this opportunity to be the hands and feet and the facilitator to give these children Christmas, we can imagine what their faces are gonna look like on Christmas morning when they receive these.”

The Salvation Army and Citizens National Bank. Teaming up for over a quarter of a century on this one of kind outreach. The Salvation Army’s motto says " Doing the Most Good". We hope you can take part and find your special angel.

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