Volunteers wrap Christmas presents for children of incarcerated parents in Offender Aid and Restoration’s (OAR) Project Christmas Angel. Photo contributed
OAR held its 20th annual Project Christmas Angel on Dec. 16 at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church. At this year’s Project Christmas Angel, more than 200 volunteers wrapped over 700 presents for children of incarcerated parents, with each child receiving three presents. The children range from newborns to 18 years old.
In this project, OAR receives donations of new and unwrapped toys from the community for children of incarcerated parents and those recently released. Along with their gifts, the children receive a personalized note from their parent. This gives the children a sense that they have not been forgotten by their parent and that they are still a priority in their parents’ lives. Volunteers deliver the gifts to the families’ homes and assist with monetary contributions for postage to mail gifts to families that are out of town.
OAR’s goal is to unite the good will of the community with the holiday dreams of the children of incarcerated individuals in the Arlington County Detention Facility and those recently released in Arlington, Alexandria, and Falls Church.
Offender Aid and Restoration of Arlington County, Inc. (OAR), is a private, 501 C (3) nonprofit organization that serves Arlington County and the cities of Alexandria and Falls Church. OAR’s mission is to provide community-managed programs aimed at restoring the individual offender as a responsible member of the community by providing alternatives to incarceration, programs to inmates and services to ex-offenders.