For over 30 years, the Sharing Tree program has helped thousands of children and adults experience the joy of the holiday season. Sharing Tree brings together businesses, agencies, churches, schools and hundreds of community volunteers to ensure the holiday wishes of those in need are fulfilled.

The Salvation Army and United Way of Midland County are once again partnering to bring this program to our community. This collaboration has allowed the program to grow, reaching more and more people each year. This year, they hope to help more than 3,200 Midland County residents in time for the holiday season.

Sharing Tree does more than provide gifts. It helps those who are struggling to afford basic needs like utility assistance, transportation vouchers, household necessities and food. Many requests are for items many of us may take for granted, such as hats, gloves, coats and gas to get to work. Each tag represents an individual with a holiday wish, with an average value of $30.

“The spirit of Christmas truly comes alive through this program,” shared Holly Miller, President and CEO of United Way of Midland County. “The support from the community continues to grow each year and it’s a blessing that so many of our neighbors not only buy gifts but also dedicate their time as volunteers for this program. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to make so many holiday wishes come true.”

Volunteers are an incredibly important part of this effort. They give countless hours of their time checking-in gifts, shopping for unfilled tags, and ensuring that the gifts are sent to the correct agency or school so they are delivered to homes prior to Christmas day. If you’re interested in volunteering for Sharing Tree visit volunteerglbr.org.
The support of this program truly takes the efforts of our entire community. Many local businesses and churches support Sharing Tree by hosting a tree. Tags can be found at the following local churches and businesses throughout the community:
• ACE Hardware
• Aristocuts
• Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
• Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church
• Carebuilders at Home
• Computers To Go
• Dani B’s Studio for Hair
• Dorais Chiropractic – Dr James
• Dr Ben Bailey, Dentistry
• Dr Kathryn Winkle
• First Baptist Church
• First United Methodist Church
• Garber Chevrolet
• Greater Coleman Family Center
• Greater Midland Community Center
• Ieuter Insurance Group
• Kroger
• Lalonde’s Market
• Magnifique Salon
• Members First Credit Union
• Memorial Presbyterian Church
• Midland County Building
• Midland Dental Center
• Midland Mall
• Midland Public Schools Admin
• Midland Reformed Church
• Sanford Hardware
• Sanford Our Lady of Grace
• St John’s Episcopal Church
• St John’s Lutheran Church
• St Paul’s Lutheran Church
• Trinity Lutheran
• United Church of Christ
• VFW
• Walmart
• Wheeler Rd Church of Christ
• Wildfire Credit Union

The holiday spirit doesn’t stop there. Local corporations including Corteva, Dow, IFF, McKay Press, Primerose Retirement of Midland, Savant, Trinseo and Xalt are hosting trees within their workplaces for their employees to join in.

Be sure to wrap the gift so that it can be opened during gift check-in, securely tape the tag to the gift and return to The Salvation Army by Friday, December 2nd.

For those who prefer to do their holiday shopping online, Sharing Tree offers an online giving portal where you can make a financial gift to fill individual requests. Visit sharingtreemidland.org or text “SharingTree” to 41444 to donate money to fill a remaining gift request.

For more information, call Matt Place with The Salvation Army at 989-496-2787 or visit sharingtreemidand.org.