For over 20 years, Offender Aid and Restoration (OAR) has sponsored Project Christmas Angel. In this project, OAR receives donations of gifts for children of incarcerated parents and those recently released. Volunteers deliver the gifts to the families’ homes and assist with monetary contributions for postage to mail gifts to families that are out of town.
At this year’s Project Christmas Angel, over 150 volunteers wrapped over 700 presents for children of incarcerated parents. The children range from newborns to 18 years old.
Through OAR, the children of incarcerated parents and those parents recently released receive gifts with a personalized note from their parents. This gives the children a sense that they have not been forgotten by their parent and that they are still a priority in their parents’ lives. OAR’s goal is to unite the good will of the community with the holiday dreams of the children of incarcerated individuals in the Arlington County Detention Facility and those recently released in Arlington, Alexandria, and Falls Church.
Individuals in the community assisted by donating new and unwrapped toys, making financial contributions to help cover costs of postage and supplies, participating in the Wrapping Party on December 17 and wrapping over 700 gifts, and delivering the gifts to the childrens’ homes. Project Christmas Angel could not have been such a success without the support of volunteers and the community.
Offender Aid and Restoration of Arlington County, Inc. (OAR), is a private, 501 C (3) nonprofit organizations that serves Arlington County and the cities of Alexandria and Falls Church. OAR’s mission is to provide community-managed programs aimed at restoring the individual offender as a responsible member of the community by providing alternatives to incarceration, programs to inmates and services to ex-offenders.