Ask Pat Dugan how many grandchildren she has, and she will answer eight: seven by way of her family tree, and one by way of Angel Tree®.
Pat has served as the Angel Tree coordinator at Caldwell First Baptist Church in Idaho for 15 years. Acquiring the position from a friend, Pat faced an especially difficult test in her new role when her daughter-in-law died suddenly. Pat tried to serve as a one-woman support system for her son, who had just lost his wife, and for one of her granddaughters, who had lost her mother—while also trying to support the families of prisoners.
Pat admits it was tough. After two years with Angel Tree, she started to wonder how much of a difference she was really making. "I just hadn't had much success with getting families to come to church," confesses Pat.
Despite feeling discouraged, Pat continued to deliver Angel Tree gifts and reach out to prisoners' families—not knowing that she was about to give a whole lot to a child left with very little.
BUSSED TO A NEW LIFE
Cristina Torres's family of six lived in Texas. Before Cristina's sixth birthday, her world went up in smoke twice: first figuratively, when her dad was caught trafficking drugs across the Mexican border and was thrown in jail; and then literally, when a Thanksgiving Day fire destroyed her family's home. Homeless and with no support, Cristina's mother wondered what to do with her four children.
Then Cristina's aunt in Idaho offered the family hope in the form of an apartment and a used car. With much gratitude, the Torres family took a Greyhound bus to their new life in a town outside Boise—and right down the street from Pat Dugan.
Their first Christmas in Idaho didn't look promising, after the trauma the family had been through and the absence of Cristina’s father. But another gleam of hope showed up at their front door, when Pat delivered Angel Tree gifts to Cristina and her siblings on their father’s behalf. Pat also encouraged them to join her at Caldwell First Baptist Church.
"They weren't getting to church often because Mom was working two jobs,” recalls Pat. “So I started taking three of the kids with me on Sundays, but it was really Cristina who decided, 'This is my church.'"
A SPECIAL CONNECTION
Pat nurtured Cristina's enthusiasm whenever and however she could. She called every Saturday to confirm Sunday morning plans—even when Cristina's family moved to a neighboring town. Slowly, their relationship took on a familial bond.
"Somewhere along the line, people started referring to her as my granddaughter," says Pat, "I treat Cristina just like I treat my other grandchildren."
Aside from attending church with Pat every week, Cristina started getting involved at church in other ways. She helped Pat deliver Angel Tree gifts at Christmas. In the summers, she attended a Christian camp. Pat assigned her housekeeping and gardening jobs to earn money for the camp's tuition. Cristina was even allowed to go on a missions trip to Mexico—something kids were not usually allowed to do.
"Through Pat, I've met some of the greatest people I've ever known," says Cristina. "I got a foundation in Christ and in my faith. My life would've been a lot different without her."
LONG-DISTANT BONDS
Cristina now attends college in West Virginia, where she studies music and theater. She aspires to perform on Broadway one day. She talks to her father often, who is now living in Texas and working as a truck driver. Cristina says she is proud of the man he has become.
In addition to building a relationship with her father, Cristina goes home to visit her family in Idaho whenever she can. When school or lack of money keeps her from home, however, she calls to check in with her mom . . . and with her Angel Tree grandmother.
"I talk to Cristina a couple times a month," says Pat. "Sometimes she'll call and we'll talk for half an hour, sometimes it's just a few minutes, but she says she feels like she needs to account to three people: her mother, her father, and me."
Pat is accepted by the rest of the Torres family as well. She calls Cristina's mother every couple of weeks, or Cristina's mother calls her—especially when Cristina has a need she refuses to admit. Pat's place with the family was solidified last month when Cristina's sister married, and Pat was seated next to the Torres family for the ceremony.
WITH LOVE, FROM HER ANGEL TREE GRANDMOTHER
Biographers Charles and Ann Morse once wrote, "A child needs a grandparent, anybody's grandparent, to grow a little more securely into an unfamiliar world." Pat's diligence and Cristina's growth in her faith are proof of this sentiment. What began with a woman's perseverance in the face of discouragement continues today, with something as simple as a monthly care package of cookies sent to a college student in West Virginia—sent with love from her Angel Tree grandmother.
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