We work with the Mount Horeb area community to bring gifts to low income children, disabled adults and senior citizens. All applicants live within the Mount Horeb Area School District.
Our mission is to provide a way for people to express their generosity toward others as well as help the people in need during the holiday season. Generosity benefits the giver as well as the receiver, the rewards from this effort are abundant for the community.
What We Do
The Mount Horeb Area Giving Tree is a grassroots organization that started over 30 years ago in in 1992. In 2023, the Mount Horeb Giving Tree combined with Neighbors Helping Neighbors- Mount Horeb. We work with the community to provide holiday gifts for our applicants. Community members either buy gifts or donate money for us to buy the gifts. These donations come from businesses, organizations, individuals, families, groups of friends, etc.
We work closely with the schools to distribute applications to families with children, the Senior Center, MARC (Madison Area Rehabilitation Center), and Ingleside so we reach as many potential applicants as possible. Additionally, we have applications available at a variety of community locations, online, and by request. All applicants live in the Mount Horeb area school district. Applications are available from early October through early November.
In addition to our main goal of providing holiday gifts, we have also distributed donations from schools (books, gloves, hats, toiletries, socks, etc.), the Clothes Closet, and items donated by other groups or individuals. We have 300-350 applicants each year and provide up to two gifts per applicant based on their gift request. We place "giving trees" around the community each November. Community members can take a tag off the tree and purchase a gift based on the gift request or interest. Historically, tags are available at Miller and Sons Supermarket (Mount Horeb location only), The Chamber of Commerce, Hearts and Hands Daycare, and Strands Salon.
Gifts purchased by the public are left at Miller's and the Chamber of Commerce, unwrapped. Here the Giving Tree volunteers pick up and later distribute the gifts about a week or two before Christmas. Many businesses and organizations contribute money to help us buy gifts that are not bought by the community.
We involve local school children to help us transport gifts to the distribution site, prepare envelopes with stamps and address stickers, cut string for tags, collect books, hats, socks, and gloves for our applicants, etc.
Volunteers do all of our work. There is no overhead except stamps, ink and paper. This means 99%+ of donations go to the people who need help the most. Financial contributions are always welcome, but we especially appreciate the people, businesses, and organizations that take tags and go shopping! The Clothes Closet has been helping with our distribution of gifts by contributing blankets and clothing items for our applicants.
If you're interested in donating, volunteering, or have any questions about the Mount Horeb Giving Tree please contact us at [email protected].