Karen Wilson, assistant coordinator at Bowling Green High School Youth Service Center, unloads donated canned goods Monday at the school. The center is sponsoring an Angel Tree program for needy teenagers and their families for Christmas. Photo by Joe Imel

Karen Wilson thinks Christmas is for all kids, not just little ones. In fact, older kids while not always wanting to admit it look forward to unwrapping some gifts, as well, said Wilson, assistant coordinator at Bowling Green High School Youth Service Center. While its not usually toys that teens want, gifts may include more important items such as clothes or shoes for school. I just want everyone to have Christmas, Wilson said. Wilson and Misti Carrigan, the centers supervisor, collected 85 names of 14- to 18-year-olds this week from The Salvation Army to pass on to students, fellow teachers, school clubs and residents who want to help. Projects like the Angel Tree a Christmas tree adorned with the names of needy children, teens or families and their wish lists go along with the work the center does year-round. Our job is to remove any barrier between that child or their graduation, Wilson said. That includes providing clothing, hygiene and food, as well as other types of assistance such as properly filling out ACT applications. We deal a lot with making sure they feel confident to be here, Wilson said. Teen-agers whose names are on the centers Angel Tree this year also can be confident that Christmas will be something to look forward to. The names were taken off cards filled out by needy families, the majority of whom The Salvation Army will help with food baskets during the holidays. Families filling out the forms are asked to list family members, giving the youth service center a chance to clue in on teen-agers from needy families and form the schools own Angel Tree. They were able to give us the names and notify the parents that (those names) are here, Wilson said. We take all of their basic clothing sizes; the main things we focus on are clothing and shoes. The teens then are asked what they would like. Were seeing requests for clothes and CD players and things like that, Wilson said. Some of them asked for things like jewelry or model cars; were getting a lot of requests for these earth shoes. One 14-year-old boy asked for a basketball. A 16-year-old guy asked for a car. A lot of the kids give us their favorite color. The center approaches the project as a way to fill a vacuum of needs that often go unmet and unnoticed. Typically, teen-agers are the last to be chosen for Angel Trees, Wilson said. But everybody looks forward to getting something for Christmas. The main things we do focus on is clothing and shoes. Warren Central High Schools Youth Service Center has been doing an Angel Tree program for about nine years, according to program assistant Stephanie Walker. The center started getting its applications together Friday and will put up the Angel Tree today. It looks like we will have about 50 students, she said. Student clubs and faculty then adopt the angel and typically will try to get most everything that is on a teens list, Walker said. We also will give them food baskets for their family, she said. While The Salvation Army does not include teen-agers on its Angel Tree, it does provide meals to entire families, teens included. If they just have children over the age of 12, they may not be getting toys for them, but they will be getting food for the entire family, said Bowling Green Salvation Army Cmdr. Maj. Vernon Dolby. We dont give food based on the age of those in the household, but rather on how many are in the household. Wilson said she expects the response to Bowling Green High Schools Youth Service Center to be good, as it has been on projects to help provide a special Christmas for teens in the past. This is the best community, as far as generosity is concerned, she said, adding that she expects the list of 85 names to grow. Helping is not limited to students or teachers; the community can help by contacting the center at 746-2304.