SRP employees donate toys to Phoenix school in holiday tradition
Dec 9, 2014, 5:16 PM | Updated: 5:17 pm
PHOENIX — Students from Santa Maria Middle school sang Christmas carols Tuesday, then loaded a bus with more than 300 toys that were donated by Salt River Project employees as part of an annual tradition.
“For 22 years now, SRP employees have adopted angels, which are children out of the Fowler School District, and today is the day that students from the schools come and pick up all of the gifts that have been donated,” SRP Community Relations Officer Jen Martin said.
The toys are taken to the district’s headquarters then distributed to underprivileged kids at each of the district’s seven schools in southwest Phoenix.
Martin said workers pick an angel tag that has information about a child, then buy a present for that child.
“It (the angel tag) has the child’s name, their age, clothing size, and then lists a couple of items that they’re hoping Santa might be able to bring to them,” Martin said.
The employees spend $30 to $50 on each child.
The program was started by a school nurse who worked in the district 22 years ago and has since retired.