Every year, the community of Pinedale, and the greater Sublette County area, comes together to support one of our favorite projects - Angel Wreath. While the program itself is a statewide project, we love that each area takes it on themselves, so as to guarantee personal involvement and buy-in from the local community. The facilitation of this incredible undertaking actually rotates from year to year. This past year, it was First Bank that took it on, and their intense work actually began in August! We were thrilled to come alongside them to help, as Santa's workshop moved from the North Pole to little old Pinedale. (Don't worry - it was just temporary!)
The Angel Wreath program works with school officials, social workers, clergy and others in the area who are connected to kids who may not otherwise have much of a Christmas to look forward to. They coordinate the kids and their Christmas wishes in a way that keeps their identities confidential, while doing everything possible to get them gifts that they really want. It is an impressive system! These wishes, along with the children's age and gender, are written down on paper angels, then attached to wreaths that are hung in businesses all over town. So when people are grocery shopping, stop for gas, or pop in somewhere for a coffee, they're able to look over the angels and choose one to adopt. Those presents are purchased, and then dropped off at First Bank, labeled and unwrapped. This is where Santa's elves jump in to help. Though they may be disguised as bank tellers and branch managers, they work around the clock to wrap the thousands of gifts that are lovingly donated, and then assist with delivering them.

Many of us at Sanctuary Horses had participated in this program on our own in years past. But this last Christmas we decided to get involved as an organization. So we reached out to Leslie, our local Angel Wreath coordinator, to explain our mission, and our desire to help furnish gifts for kids who hadn't been taken care of yet. We explained to her that our dream is to one day be a part of the healing process that will take place at The Sanctuary, so we asked if there were any girls in that age group who hadn't been selected yet. We were so excited to go shopping for nine girls, ages 12-17. We filled our shopping carts with hoodies, boots, socks, bedding, coats and more - what a JOY!

What was so amazing was to drop off these gifts and see the piles and piles of gifts the First Bank team had already wrapped. There were rooms and rooms full of gifts, along with rows of bikes and scooters. It was a sight to behold. To imagine the delight all of these gifts would bring into the lives of the kiddos that would open them up Christmas morning was so moving. And to consider the countless hours the bank staff had contributed was simply staggering. It was most certainly a labor of love, and we were beyond blessed to be able to participate. We want to thank Leslie and her crew at First Bank for all of their hard work, and for letting us play a small role in the Angle Wreath project. We are so grateful to them, and we are already excited for next year!
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