Community Assets: Laurie Daniel and the Giving Tree make sure kids have Christmas gifts
The Bellevue Ministerial Association program served more than 300 children in 2010. Daniel, a hospital X-ray tech, has run it since 2007.
Laurie Daniel, an X-ray technician at The Bellevue Hospital, has spent recent Decembers making sure children in struggling local families find gifts under the tree.
She runs the Giving Tree, a program of the Bellevue Ministerial Association started by Pastor Doug Lewis in 1999. Colleen Swartz ran it before Daniel and Amelia Ayers took over in 2007. The two kept what worked and adjusted the rest, and Daniel has run it alone since Ayers moved away.
Need has grown with the economy. Daniel said the program served more than 300 children in 2010 and expected about 275 in 2011. It works alongside regional efforts such as the Angel Tree and county aid programs but focuses on Bellevue.
Families in need can also find help through county job and family services. More Community Assets profiles: the Shelleys and BSHS FCCLA. More in Community.