For many, Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. But for Peter and Theresa Conti, this is an understatement. Counting 11 Christmas trees in their own home, Peter and Theresa Conti have been waiting all year to continue their annual tradition of running the Fountain Hills Christmas Angel Program.

An idea born from The Salvation Army, the Christmas Angel Program provides a platform for local businesses, clubs and families to provide Christmas gifts for children who would otherwise not receive any.

Through the Peter and Theresa Conti Foundation, over 750 application forms are sent out to kids from pre-kindergarten through the seventh grade in the Fountain Hills Unified School District, H'man 'shawa Early Childhood Development Center, Fountain Oasis Preschool and Here We Grow Learning Center, where they write down their Christmas wish list.

Once the applications are returned, Peter, Theresa and their team of volunteers scrupulously transfer each application into Angel Tags that hang on Christmas trees for the community to choose and fill as they please.

In the days before Thanksgiving, Angel Trees will go up in a handful of local businesses including Sami Fine Jewelry, Russo Salon, Wells Fargo Bank, Mid-First Bank, UMB Bank and the NPOA Office, where the community can then pick tags off the trees to be purchased.

Angel Tag participants have until Wednesday, Dec. 14, to return their gifts. Last year, a total of 140 Angel Tags hung at the six aforementioned businesses, which Peter says play a critical role in making this program work.

This year, both the Noon and Sunset Kiwanis Clubs have also agreed to participate by distributing Angel Tags at their club meetings. In all, Peter and his wife Theresa want to make sure every child who applies gets their wishes fulfilled.

“We never turn anybody away,” Peter said. “It definitely makes me happy. I get to be Santa for the year.”

“People always ask me, ‘What should we buy? Should we buy everything [on the Angel Tag]?’ No. Buy what you want to buy that’s in your budget,” Peter said. “Just know you’re giving it to a kid who wasn’t going to get anything, or very little if they didn’t have this tag.”

Once the tags and gifts are returned by Dec. 14, they will be distributed to families in person at McDowell Mountain Elementary School on Saturday, Dec. 17.

“With everything else that’s going on right now in town, it’s nice to know that there’s this one thing that everyone can get behind that’s good for the kids and that’s it,” Peter said. “It doesn’t take a lot of money to do a lot of good.”

For questions or more information, reach out to Peter Conti directly at peter@movinginformation.com.