Erica Daniels was 8 years old when the cops pulled over the car her father was driving. "They're like, 'Get out of the car!' It was crazy," Erica says, reflecting back on that moment when her dad was arrested for bank robbery.

She and her mother later joined another family, but incarceration became part of Erica's new family, too. Her sister's father was sentenced to federal prison, where he would eventually serve 17 years.

"It's hard," Erica says, recalling what it was like to have a loved one in prison. "You're having to go and visit [prison]. So that's tough for little kids to do. And that's just introducing them to something that they shouldn't even really have to know about, at a young age."

But during that time, Erica and her sisters were signed up for Angel Tree^®.

LIFE WITH A PARENT IN PRISON

"When I was younger, my first encounter with Angel Tree was the groups of people coming to sponsor us for Christmas. And so, I remember them coming and praying with my family and giving us gifts," Erica says. That was a big blessing for Erica's single mom, the family's sole provider, because "she didn't have to do it all on her own."

Angel Tree, a Prison Fellowship^® program, has been serving families like Erica's for more than 30 years. Since 1982, more than 11 million gifts have been given to kids, along with the Gospel message and a personal message from their incarcerated parent.

But Angel Tree doesn't stop there. Loving volunteers and churches keep reaching out to families affected by incarceration year-round through Angel Tree Camping^TM and Sports Clinic.

'I just love the praise and worship time ... I thought that was awesome,' says Erica.
'That was just beautiful to see the kids are being introduced to that at such a young age.'

Following the times of worship, the kids grabbed their Pathlight Angel Tree Camper Bibles they received
and were led through devotional times by their counselors.