Cherokee Casino donated $20,000 to the Cherokee Nation's Angel Tree, which provided gifts and toys to nearly 1,000 area needy children each year. This is the third year Cherokee Casino has donated $20,000, but the company and its employees have supported the Angel Tree for many years.
"We couldn't do the Angel Tree without (Cherokee Casino), our employees here and community people," Hettie Charboneau, who manages the Cherokee Nation Indian Child Welfare Foster Care Program and supervises the Angel Tree, said. "If they couldn't donate, we really couldn't have an Angel Tree, and we couldn't buy and wrap all the gifts without the help of employees."
Each year, employees and volunteers shop for the Angel Tree while other volunteers work long hours wrapping gifts, Charboneau said. Shannon Chester and Brandy Lemley organize the amazing amount of gifts that arrive and make sure the "angels" get the gifts they requested.
"The girls really love to work on the Angel Tree. They stay late and work really hard," Charboneau said. "I think every child is happy with the gifts they get."
Gifts also arrived for the Angel Tree from employees at Cherokee Casinos in Catoosa, Roland, West Siloam Springs and Fort Gibson and from people in other states Charboneau said.
"It's the spirit of Christmas and the spirit of giving that has taken over this year. This is one of the better years for the Angel Tree," she said.
Applications for the Angel Tree are taken in October from throughout the Cherokee Nation's 14-county jurisdiction. Charboneau said she works with other area groups sponsoring Angel Trees to prevent duplicate applications. Income guidelines are also used to ensure the Angel Tree only helps needy families and children.
"Some children wouldn't get much at all for Christmas without the Angel Tree, and the children who aren't picked from the tree are helped by the money from Cherokee Casino," she said.
