The Salvation Army gave parents enough gifts for 852 children Thursday as Angel Tree goodies were distributed. A plus was $20 Walmart gift cards for families to buy Christmas dinners.

All but 95 of the children who were signed up by the program’s Dec. 13 deadline were adopted, said Lt. JoAnn Frazier, Corps officer for the Salvation Army. But the 95 got gifts, too, through merchants, Salvation Army funds and last-minute donors. “When they find out there are still kids, people step up,” Frazier said. “I was very pleased we had a good turnout, but it would have been nice to have 100 percent adopted children.”

Applicants are screened for the program, then children’s names are placed on adoption cards hung on trees at several city locations. Donors then select a child or children, do the shopping and return the gifts to the Salvation Army for distribution.

Last Christmas, the program provided for almost 900 children after the agency extended its deadline to address a concern that only 677 might be adopted. This year was abnormal, Frazier said, because the group received calls from people who had never requested help before.

Frazier said her favorite recipient this year was a woman who grabbed the steering wheel of her vehicle and shouted, “Oh, I got a gift card,” about the unexpected pleasant surprise. “When you see one person like that who really needed it, that makes it worth it,” Frazier said.

The Salvation Army’s Senior Angels program also delivered gifts to 180 nursing home residents — 30 more than last year.

Angel Trees were at Bass Shoe Outlet, Rainbow Casino, Trustmark Bank on Halls Ferry, Bowmar Baptist Church, First Presbyterian Church, Pemberton Square and the Army Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District.

The Angel Tree program was started 20 years ago by Mary Kay Beard, a bank robber sentenced to 21 years in prison. While jailed, Beard joined a prison ministry that led her to the idea of making donating a more personal process.

The Salvation Army is one of 20 member agencies of the United Way of West Central Mississippi.

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Contact Tish Butts at tbutts@vicksburgpost.com