'We are the kickstart of the holiday season for the Lowcountry'

Two children hold a lever on a giant red package. There are two women next to them holding little girls. A man is behind the two kids holding the lever helping. Another woman on the right is waving and there's a Christmas tree beside her.

Daniel Lynch, 6, and Charlotte Simmons, 8, hold the switch to light the Angel Tree, as Quinn Dellinger and Helena Murca, both 1, watch. Photos provided

Three children waiting for the gift of life in the form of heart transplants and a fourth who recently received a donated heart ushered in the season of giving at the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital. Before a crowd of family, friends and care team members, Quinn Dellinger, 1; Daniel Lynch, 6; Helena Murca, 1; and Charlotte Simmons, 8, moved the lever that lit the Angel Tree.

Melissa Kubu, Women’s and Children’s program coordinator of the Volunteer Services staff, organized the event. “For our tree lighting, we typically have patients who are here the longest, going through some very difficult times, and we try to bring a light during their day.”

That sense of joy is shared beyond the children’s hospital, Kubu said. “We are the kickstart of the holiday season for Lowcountry.”

The Angel Tree program, run by the Salvation Army, ensures that families facing financial challenges are still able to provide their children with holiday gifts. “With the economy being the way it has been, I think the program definitely has grown,” Kubu said.

“I mean, everyday life is extremely expensive for the average family – the cost of gas, the cost of groceries. So, looking at holiday expenditures, it’s not an easy thing for families to take on.”

Several women and two dogs on a stairs case. Some of the women are waving. They are all, including the dogs, wearing festive headbands.

It takes a lot of helpers to pull off the Angel Tree program each year.

The Greater Charleston Area Angel Tree program helps eligible families take that on by creating tags with their children’s first names and wish lists. The tags are then distributed to organizations across the Lowcountry, including the Medical University of South Carolina, where they hang on trees.

People can take the tags, buy gifts for the children on them and drop off the gifts to be distributed to the kids’ families the week before Christmas.

MUSC has been involved for 23 years. “We typically get the majority of the angels. We’re the largest partner of The Salvation Army Angel Tree project,” Kubu said. “They brought us 500 tags, and there are 400 online adoptions as well.”

MUSC care team members and the community buy gifts individually and in groups, with teams forming in departments across campus to fulfill as many children’s wishes as possible.

“We do amazing things here at MUSC. And for us to be able to then do something, to give back to the community during very difficult times, it’s a beautiful way to show the generosity of us coming together to do something for the greater good.”

You don’t have to work at MUSC to participate. There will be angel trees in businesses across the Lowcountry. The public is invited to MUSC’s Dec. 8 Angel Tree Parade around the downtown Charleston campus starting at noon.

Kubu encouraged people who take Angel Tree tags at MUSC to bring in their gifts a week before the parade if possible. “The drop-off locations will still be the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital, Ashley River Tower and University Medical Center. They can also bring them the morning of the parade to the Medical District Greenway,” she said.

“When we bring all of these gifts back and do this Parade of Toys, we can show the culmination of what we’ve done to come together. I think that that speaks volumes to how we all work together as one team.”