The Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 93, is inviting residents to help provide an extra gift for local children this Christmas season.
As part of “The Giving Christmas Tree,” residents are encouraged to grab a peach tag from the Christmas tree located in the lobby of the Urbana municipal building, 205 S. Main St. Each tag represents a child within the community in need of a Christmas present.
Residents who grab a tag will then buy a gift for that child and bring it back to the Urbana Police Division before Dec. 18. The tags are numbered with a tracking system and following the tracking number, residents will find the age and gender of each child.
If a resident finds a letter following their tracking number, it indicates that child has a brother or sister on the tree also. Some tags have gift suggestions and some do not.
Members of Lodge 93 and the Urbana Police Division will then deliver the gifts to the children before Christmas.
Urbana Police Sgt. Josh Jacobs said last year gifts were distributed to over 200 children in the city.
“The community’s always been really great about participating, grabbing and bringing gifts back,” Jacobs said. “It’s a nice circle that we’re just the facilitators of it and it runs itself – but the community’s always been really great.”
Residents who know a child or children who live in the city of Urbana who may be in need of a Christmas present can fill out a registration form to have those children placed on the Giving Christmas Tree. Children who are eligible to be placed on the tree must be 12-years-old or younger and live within the city of Urbana.
The registration forms are available at the Urbana Police Division’s office in the municipal building and must be filled out and returned to Jacobs before Dec. 11.
