Giving Tree deadlines Thursday

The deadline for parents to return forms for their children’s tags to be on the 2018 Platte Valley Giving Tree is tomorrow (Thursday, Nov. 15).

Kassey Westring, Giving Tree chairman for the sponsoring Valley Service Organization (VSO), said the forms have been distributed through Valley schools, preschools, day cares public health and Big Brothers/Big Sisters for the tree which again will be located at Town and Country Realty starting Nov. 20.

Thursday is also the deadline for Valley organizations to indicate their desire to “adopt” an entire family for Christmas.

The Giving Tree project is designed to ensure all Valley children have a chance to enjoy a Merry Christmas regardless of economic circumstances, Westring said. Parents are urged to fill out and return the forms detailing their children’s Christmas wishes and needs, plus their ages, sizes, and favorite colors. This information is placed on tags, which in turn are placed on the tree for people to take and use as guidelines for providing gifts for the children. The gifts are to be returned unwrapped to Town and Country Realty along with the tags by Dec.15. Gifts will be distributed to the parents at Big Brothers/Big Sisters the next week.

Westring emphasized that all names of the families and children are confidential, and tags are destroyed after they have served their purpose.

The Giving Tree is only one of VSO’s holiday activities. Planning has also started for Winter Wonderland, which will be held at the Platte Valley Community Center immediately following the Christmas parade Saturday, Dec. 1. A Christmas decorating contest is also planned for Saratoga.

Details will be provided closer to Christmas.