Best org for angel tree?

November 14, 2012 9:41 AM

Best organization in NYC in which to participate in an angel tree kind of thing? I'm nannying a 8, almost 9 year old boy and he has expressed interest in buying something for a boy his age in need for the holidays.

I have have previously participated in Stockings with Care, but you are mostly randomly assigned a kid of any age. I have also done the Barnes and Noble angel tree, but I think my charge really wants to go the toy route--something that would be fun for him to pick out (he reads, but doesn't get as excited about books as he does about toys). He wants to buy for a boy his age (8 or 9).

So what organization can we 'pick out' (for lack of a less crude phrase) a kid to buy for? In the past in my home town, the local mall had a tree with ornaments that stipulated a gender and age that you would pull from the tree, go buy for, and drop off with the organization. I'm looking for something like that I guess.

His parents are cool with the idea, in case it's relevant.

Thanks!

posted by greta simone to grab bag (6 answers total)

New York Cares Winter Wishes (however, at the moment, the website seems to be slow to respond).

The individual registration page is here
posted by wintrymix at 9:48 AM on November 14, 2012

Forgot to say, you don't really pick a letter, but hopefully still workable for you, if there's nothing else.
posted by wintrymix at 9:51 AM on November 14, 2012

Jeez, so many typos in my post. Sorry, busy day.
posted by greta simone at 10:50 AM on November 14, 2012

It's not an in-person angel tree (Catholic churches tend to do that, you might want to call around), but in the past I've participated in the JCPenney/Salvation Army online Giving Tree. You get to look through different genders/age ranges and see what they want before you choose your person and then I believe you can just drop your gift off at a Salvation Army location. The online tree isn't up yet but should be in a few weeks.
posted by jabes at 11:30 AM on November 14, 2012

Samaritan's Purse does a drive each year where you can send a shoebox full of gifts to a child and you can choose the age and sex of the child. There are several drop-off places in and around NYC.

The collections are from 12-19 November, so not much time to get organised, but the dollar store is a great place to find things. I've done this in the past and it's been great fun to choose the gifts and pack them. For boys you have to make sure there are no guns or war-type toys, as some of the children are in war zones, but there's guidance on the website on how to go about choosing the right gifts.
posted by essexjan at 11:58 AM on November 14, 2012

I work for a Ronald McDonald House and we do that. I can't find on the RMH NY page if they do it, but you could call them, maybe.

If you like the idea of finding a 9-year-old boy in another city (I'm in the Midwest) who's sick and away from his own home for the holidays, memail me and I can hook you up with some info. We have kids from all over the world here.
posted by OHSnap at 10:34 PM on November 14, 2012