For the sixth year, the Peter and Theresa Conti Foundation is running the Salvation Army Christmas Angel program in Fountain hills.

“The program here is the only super-local program for the Salvation Army, meaning that everything is done here in the community to benefit local Fountain Hills families and kids,” said Peter Conti. “Last year Fountain Hills residents made Christmas happen for 140 Fountain Hills kids from 65 local families. And as has been the same since we took over the program, every child’s Angel tag was taken and filled. That was especially fantastic last year as, nationwide, the program had record numbers of tags not filled because of the COVID situation.”

The process to be an Angel for a child is simple. An Angel tag is taken from one of the locations listed below. The tags have the child’s wish list on them, which the tag taker can then use to guide their purchases. The gifts are then returned unwrapped to the location where the tag was taken from by Dec. 15. The Conti Foundation team then collects the gifts and hands them out to families on delivery day.

Angel Trees are going up in eight local businesses with tags available for pick-up. Businesses include Sami Fine Jewelry, Russo Salon, the NPOA office, Washington Federal Bank, Wells Fargo Bank, Mid-First Bank, Bank of America and UMB Bank.

The application forms for families have already been handed out (through the help of the principals of McDowell Mountain Elementary School, Fountain Hills Middle School, H’Man S’hawa ECDC, Here We Grow Preschool and Maxwell Academy) and are being returned for inclusion in the program.

“We anticipate that the tags will be on trees by the beginning of Thanksgiving week and maybe sooner in a few locations,” Conti said.

Local Fountain Hills families in need that do not have kids in the district can reach out to Peter Conti directly for an application form at his email, peter@movinginformation.com. The families must reside in Fountain Hills.