At our school we call it The Giving Tree and needy families tie a slip of paper with their wants and needs they’d like for Christmas.  Our staff and other families pretty much fulfill every want and need on that tree.  It makes for a happy Christmas for both those who receive and who give.  The Angel Tree is the same concept, only it’s for the whole town.  Before Christmas a fully decorated tree would appear in the town square, no one knowing who it was that was responsible.  Townspeople wrote their Christmas wishes and tied them to the tree, and by Christmas each wish was granted, regardless of difficulty or cost.  Of course, there’s a mystery in and of itself as to who started all this benevolence.  And as with our giving tree, The Angel Tree is no different–you don’t see the struggles simply by looking at people.  The Christmas spirit isn’t just stuff, it’s family, and The Angel Tree shows us just how important family is to us.  Having wishes granted and having a good mystery to solve makes for good reading.