INNISFAIL – For more than three decades at Innisfail’s Dairy Queen the Angels Anonymous tree has been a symbol of generosity and love during the holiday season.
This season, as in all years past, scores of local children of all ages will have a joyful Christmas.
“We've done this forever. it's kind of a tradition here at the Innisfail Dairy Queen,” said Brett Kemball, the Main Street restaurant’s general manager.
Every year since early the 1990s the restaurant’s Angels Anonymous tree is decorated with name tags.
“People come in, they can grab a card, and then they're going to buy a dedicated gift for a child of that age, and then we collect all those gifts in the back of our store,” said Kemball.
He said people who pick up a card to be a part of the program are called sponsors, and as the cards are removed the tree is replenished with more.
“It's just a kind of way to gain some attention, having the Christmas tree set up in our store, and then making it a little bit more personal with trying to get gifts for kids,” he said, adding the name tags include ages that range between the toddler age and all the way up to teenagers who often don’t receive gifts.
“It’s easy to buy for the little kids but sometimes it's a little bit tougher for those kids who are like 15, 16, or 17.”
Once the gifts are purchased and brought back to the store an Innisfail Christmas Bureau representative then comes to pick them up for Christmas delivery to the needy children.
Kemball told the Albertan that in 2023 his restaurant received about 100 gifts for the Angels Anonymous program.
“Right now, we've got a huge stack of gifts hanging in the back. I would say we're probably on pace to do similar,” said Kemball. “We just have a box in the back, and it fills up pretty quickly.
