After several weeks of coordinating adoptions and collections for gifts, Wylie ISD delivered some holiday cheer to families in need earlier this month.

Hosting its annual Wylie Way Christmas and Holidays at Watkins Elementary School, Wylie ISD distributed gifts to 411 families in need this year, said Family Liaison Joley Martin. Beginning in October, the district identifies families in need before putting out adoption tags, similar to an Angel Tree program.

Last year, the district provided gifts for 435 families, Martin said, after helping 459 families in 2020.

Families were able to adopt tags in November, fulfilling Christmas wishes and returning the gifts to the district by Nov. 30. Martin said it then takes about two weeks total to complete registration of the families, return the gifts and organize the event.

Throughout the weeks leading up to the Wylie Way Christmas and Holidays event, volunteers throughout the community helped assemble gifts. Martin said the event is not possible without the participation of volunteers throughout the community and in all phases of the annual holiday tradition.

“The event relies on community volunteers for all phases of this event — adoption, event preparation and the event itself. It’s all so individualized and personal,” Martin said. “We host face to face registrations that volunteers conduct, people in the district and community volunteer to adopt a tag and buy the gifts, our PTA has volunteers picking up gifts at each campus and delivering them to the event location.”

Once items are returned, volunteers confirm that each tag and item is paired correctly to make sure children are receiving what is requested, or something close to it, said Martin. Students and community members then give more time on event day to help distribute gift bags and load them into vehicles, she added.

For the full story, see the Dec. 21 issue of The Wylie News.