photo by: Derek Redd

Salvation Army volunteers and board members walk through the hundreds of Angel Tree bags that were prepared for distribution to families in need Wednesday morning at the organization’s church on Eoff Street in Wheeling.

WHEELING — Walking into the community room of the Salvation Army church on Eoff Street on Wednesday morning, it looked like the results of Santa’s workshop putting in overtime.

Instead of red sacks, they were white with the Salvation Army logo stamped all around them, but their purpose was the same — to give families who might otherwise struggle to provide a memorable Christmas the opportunity to do so.

Hundreds of bags — all filled with gifts provided through the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program — covered the room’s floor for the first of three distribution events in the Northern Panhandle.

Following Wednesday’s event in Wheeling, Marshall County families on the Angel Trees can come by the John Marshall Fieldhouse on Thursday for their gifts.

On Friday, the Sistersville Fire Department will be the headquarters for distribution for Tyler and Wetzel county families.

Salvation Army Lt. Candy Lawrence said this year’s Angel Tree bags will serve 570 children in the Northern Panhandle.

With the Angel Tree program, trees covered in Christmas lists for children in need are found in department stores throughout the Panhandle, like the Highlands, Moundsville and New Martinsville Walmarts. People can pick lists off the tree and fulfill the requests for those children, who range in age from infant to teenager.

This year, Ohio Valley residents have been especially generous, Lawrence said. The number of items collected this year is larger than it has been in recent years.

“To be able to look across and see all these bags, it’s just amazing what the community does,” she said. “The Army can’t do this by themselves. We need the community. We need the individuals who want to pull the tags off of the trees.”

And, she added, there have been several instances this year where stores have called the Salvation Army looking for more lists to adorn the trees, as all the ones that had been hanging from them were gone.

“It’s great to see the heart of the people of Ohio, Marshall, Wetzel and Tyler counties coming together to help us serve these kids,” Lawrence said.

Salvation Army Board Member Barry Allen was among several volunteers at the church Wednesday morning, carrying bag after bag outside so that they could be placed in families’ cars. He and his wife Lisa Allen took six grandchildren to Walmart, each picking a list of a child near their own age to shop for.

Barry Allen said he wanted his grandchildren to understand the importance of what they were doing, that they were helping a child like them who otherwise wouldn’t have anything to open Christmas morning.

This program also moves him. It reminds him there are others struggling in the community who need help. It also reminds him that there are many people in the Ohio Valley who are ready to jump in and help.

“There is this caring community that comes together,” Barry Allen said. “Wheeling is a small little town but there are a lot of resources and a lot of caring people. This is just one example. It’s so humbling.”