Operation Angel Tree

Spread a little holiday cheer and help a child have a brighter holiday!  Nominate deserving families E1 to E5, civilian grades GS-6 and below, and NAF-equivalent (exceptions to nomination eligibility made on a case-by-case basis) who may be experiencing financial hardship. Your support will ensure our community families will be able to provide gifts for their children during the holiday season. 

The nomination window is open until November 22 for families who may be experiencing financial hardship. Families can self-nominate and submit to their unit point of contact, or the unit can nominate. Nomination forms can be obtained from your unit/organization representative. 

The Angel Tree will be displayed at the Panzer Main Exchange and Patch Commissary with nomination "ornaments" from November 26 to December 11 and you can pick a child (or children) from the tree and purchase holiday gifts for them. 

Drop off un-wrapped gifts at Army Community Service (ACS) in marked boxes.  All gifts will be delivered by unit contacts to Angel Tree recipients December 12-17. *include the tag to identify recipients. 

Angel Tree Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: Is there a limit of Families per unit or organization that can be nominated?

A: No. If Families meet criteria and are in need, they should apply.

Q: Is there criteria for who is designated the unit / org point of contact?

A: No. However, it should be someone that personnel are comfortable coming to and sharing that they are in need or that is in a role where they can easily identify Families.

Q: Should the POC review Family finances to see if they are really in need?

A: That is not a requirement of the program. If a Family says they are in need, we recommend nominating them based on the rank criteria.

Q: Who wraps the presents and gives them to the Families?

A: BOSS program volunteers will wrap presents and organize them. The unit / org POCs will pick up the wrapped gifts from BOSS (at ACS building) on a pre-determined date and then distribute them to their Families. 

Q: Can unit sponsor / adopt some Families and get their presents?

A: Yes. However, please submit the nominations first and let us know at that time you’re sponsoring them. That way we can also track the number of Families in need. 

Q: Who buys the presents for the Families?

A: The Stuttgart community will choose children (we hide all PII from nomination sheets) on the tree ornaments (cardstock with information) and purchase the gifts. They will drop them off at the ACS gift boxes and BOSS volunteers will collect them.  

Q: Is there a limit of how much to spend on each child?

A: A recommended amount is $40 to ensure all children get something comparable. Remember that a Family may have 3 children, chosen by 3 different people. It’s not ideal if one child gets a $5 gift and another a $40 gift. 

Q: What happens if all children aren’t selected from the Angel Tree?

A: It isn’t guaranteed that the community will choose all ornaments. To date, this scenario hasn’t happened. However, if it did, we would reach out to the unit by the end of the gift collection to see if they’d like to sponsor the Family.