By Cathy Free
The 6-year-old girl had never met her father, never talked to him on the phone or received a single card or letter. Then one Christmas, a gift arrived.
Anna Rodriquez was there when the girl tore off the shiny wrappings and lifted a doll and a miniature tea set out of the box. It was a moment she'll never forget.
"This little girl laid her head down on her mother's lap and cried over and over, 'My daddy loves me — he really does love me,"' Anna recalls. "It broke my heart." Right then, she decided she would do whatever it took for other kids to know that their moms or dads loved them, too.
"Just because a parent's in prison doesn't mean the child should suffer," she says. "Especially at Christmas."
Five years later, Anna, 52, is still watching children tear open gifts with notes attached from parents who are incarcerated.
The children don't know that the gifts were actually purchased by volunteers for the Angel Tree program, but it probably wouldn't matter if they did, says Anna.
"It's just seeing that note — 'To Joey, Love, Dad,"' she says. "It isn't so much the present; it's knowing they are remembered and loved. That's what brings the smiles every year."
This week, Lisa will deliver gifts to about 30 children whose names were on the Angel Tree at her church, the Mountain View Assembly of God. Dozens of congregations throughout the Salt Lake Valley participate in the program, granting small requests from kids who might otherwise not receive a single Christmas present.
"With a parent in prison, a lot of these families are living in poverty and there isn't a lot of money for gifts," says Anna, who wanted to get together for a Free Lunch to talk about her favorite charity. "Angel Tree helps relieve some of their stress."
The Angel Tree ministry was started 20 years ago by Mary Kay Beard, a former bank robber from Alabama who did time in prison and was touched by the hardships faced by inmates at Christmas.
Women in her cellblock saved the trial-size bottles of shampoo and lotion given to them by volunteers, then carefully wrapped them up so they'd have something to give their children when they visited the prison on Christmas Day.
When she was paroled, Mary Kay remembered those small gifts and the joy the children expressed when they opened them. She yearned to give the kids something better.
"She started putting up trees in her local mall with names of the kids whose parents were in prison," says Anna, "and it just took off from there. ... People learned to realize that just because a mom or a dad is a thief or a drug addict doesn't mean they don't love their children."
Every year at the Utah State Prison, inmates are now asked whether they'd like to have their children participate in the Angel Tree program. If they give permission, the children's care providers then forward toy and clothing requests to Anna and other volunteers.
"They never ask for much, usually just a doll or a truck or some new clothes," says Anna. Teenagers often request grooming products, "basic things we use every day and take for granted," she says. Sometimes after delivering the gifts, Anna climbs into her car and bursts into sobs, moved by the gratitude of children who get by with so little.
"You would love to do more for them to better their lives," she says, "but Angel Tree is a start. To see them light up when they get that present from their mom or their dad — it touches your heart."
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