BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. — For 102 children in Blount County, Santa is delivering exactly what they asked for. And it is going to be hard to hide their gifts under the tree.
This year, The Salvation Army worked with Bike Elf to give every child who asked for a bicycle through the Angel Tree program gets one. On Dec. 4, they picked up 102 bicycles took them to a distribution center to be delivered. That number is almost a quarter of the 440 wishes made through the Angel Tree program.
The program collects children's wishes for Christmas and works with local organizations and businesses to deliver them. Their wishes are written on tags, along with basic information about the child.
These tags are then displayed on trees in local businesses and organizations. The group tells the Salvation Army how many children it can sponsor, and provides unwrapped gifts for each tag.
This year, The Salvation Army worked with Bike Elf to make sure children got everything they wished for.
Bike Elf is a non-profit that gives bicycles to children who participate in its programs. It operates year-round but for this Christmas, they worked with The Salvation Army to repair and refurbish bikes for children throughout Blount County who wished for one through
The Salvation Army is also working with the Epilepsy Foundation of East Tennessee to make sure each child who gets a bicycle also gets a helmet to go with it.