MISSOULA — If you are looking for a way to give back to the community, the Watson Children's Shelter has Giving Trees around Missoula for the children who will spend their holidays at the shelter.
The Giving Tree is a small tree in certain churches or businesses that has tags with requests from the children at the shelter. After a tag is taken and the need is met, the person can return the tag and the gift to the business the tag was taken from.
“These are kids, and they're entitled to a stable, happy childhood filled with joy, and we do everything we can to provide them just an amazing holiday season, complete with presents and traditions and so on and so forth,” Watson Children's Shelter spokesman Andrew Vashchenko said.
Vashchenko said that with the community's help, the shelter is able to provide traditions that kids who live at the shelter might not have otherwise.
“By supporting Watson during the holidays, you're enabling us to not only keep a roof over these kids' heads and feed them with nutritious meals and provide for all their basic needs but also to do things like open presents on Christmas morning and to have a really wonderful holiday season,” Vashchenko said.
He explained that the kids' reactions on Christmas Day make the community's efforts worth it.
“It's absolutely magical, seeing a kid open a present and just seeing the gratitude and just getting exactly what they want for Christmas. For a lot of kids, this is their first time experiencing something like that,” Vashchenko said.
There are several places to get a tag for the giving tree. Missoula Surgical Associates, the Missoula Airport, the Missoula Children's Theatre and Crosspoint and Elevate Churches are all places with giving trees.
If you would like to contact the shelter and donate other items, you can call 406-549-0058.
