With just days left before gifts are due back, the Rotary Club of Dolores faces its highest-ever number of holiday assistance requests – and more than 60 Angel Tree wish-list tags remain unclaimed at the Dolores Public Library.
Demand has surged beyond typical levels. Organizers are asking the community to help so everyone on the list can receive a gift this season.
Each Angel Tree tag represents a Dolores child, senior or resident. They submitted a short holiday wish list through their school or community program. When a shopper takes a tag, they agree to buy some of the listed items. Gifts usually cost about $25 and must be returned unwrapped to the library by Dec. 16.
“We had close to 72 kids and about a dozen senior requests. This is a record number,” said Susan Lisak, Rotary’s assistant district governor for Dolores, Cortez and Telluride.
Need grew again this week. A former Dolores teacher, now working in Shiprock, New Mexico, contacted the club after her school’s Angel Tree program fell through, asking for help for 10 additional children. Those names were added to the Dolores tree.
“I’m worried that we’re not going to be able to fulfill all of these gift requests,” Lisak said. “It’s been a tough year, and we have a lot of families that could use some extra smiles this Christmas.”
The Angel Tree program, more than a decade old, helps Dolores students, preschoolers and seniors who submit gift requests through teachers or caregivers.
Rotary receives two types of requests: items children want and items they need. This year’s wants reflect excitement around the new Dolores Bike and Skate Park, with many asking for skateboards, elbow pads and knee pads.
“We tell the parents to keep the list at a maximum $25, but of course, a skateboard is not going to be under $25, and we understand that. We tell shoppers the wish list is only a guideline,” Lisak said. On the needs side, she saw repeated requests for snow pants and snow boots, reflecting winter needs.
Anyone who wants to shop for a child or senior can pick up a tag directly from the Angel Tree at the Dolores Public Library. Residents can also sign up online at https://form.jotform.com/253375592952165 to be matched with a tag.
“If they don’t want to come to the Dolores Public Library, there’s an online form they can fill out,” Lisak said. “It asks if they have a preference – male, female, elderly – and then, I text them a picture of the tag as I take it off the tree.”
Gifts do not need to be wrapped, but they can be. All items must be returned to the library by Dec. 16, with the tag number attached to prevent mix-ups. Rotary volunteers will wrap gifts that evening, and families will pick them up Dec. 17 and 18.
The library, at 1002 Railroad Ave., is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
Rotary also noted the library is collecting nonperishable food and diapers for the Dolores Family Project through Dec. 13. Food pickup occurs Tuesdays from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Dolores Community Center.
The Angel Tree has been housed at the library since the Ponderosa Restaurant closed, where Rotary previously ran the program each holiday season. Sean Gannt serves as Rotary Club president. The club meets Tuesdays at 7:30 a.m. at the library.
A second Angel Tree is also available in Cortez, with six tags for local children through the Piñon Project. The tree is operated by The Journal in conjunction with the Piñon Project’s Christmas for Kids program and is located inside the Cortez Chamber building at 20 W. Main St.
Community members are invited to pick up a tag, shop for the listed items and return unwrapped gifts to the Piñon Project by Dec. 15. Initially, 20 tags were provided.
