A recent article in the Charlotte Observer profiles Mary Fraley, an Angel Tree church coordinator who doesn’t just distribute gifts. Her ministry has grown to include year-round support of Angel Tree families and regular correspondence with 74 different inmates.
Fraley said the people she encounters and the letters she receives from the prisoners provide her just as much encouragement as she tries to give.
One inmate wrote to her:
“Thank you with all my heart for the presents you got for my kids, it means so much to me for someone who cares enough for my kids in whom you don’t even know. Again, thank you with all my heart and may God Bless you.”
Fraley corresponds with 74 prisoners throughout the year. But everything she does originated from wanting to help these kids.
“It’s all about the kids,” Fraley said. “Yesterday when I went to the home of four children in need, the 5-year-old girl asked me if I was an angel. I responded, ‘No’, but God does send angels to make sure that they will get their gifts because their parents love and miss them and want to be with them. I tell them about God’s amazing love for each of us and while the gifts are great, the greatest gift is the gift of Jesus Christ.”