The usual suspects dominate the floor space in Candace Dudgeon’s Code Blue Crossfit gym.
Weights, medicine balls, exercise mats, other exercise equipment and a basketball hoop.
Nestled among all that equipment stands a Christmas tree with lights, a strand of silver garland and several tags on it.
The tags represent what might be the only Christmas gifts a kid might receive this year.
The Angel Tree tags are filled out with a child’s gender, age, clothing sizes, and what hobbies or ideas they may like.
“It helps them have a little bit of a Christmas,” Dudgeon said of the approximate 70 kids she tries to help.
Dudgeon and her Code Blue gym took over the Angel Tree program in 2017. the gym earlier that year, and past Christmases Dudgeon had helped wrapped presents at the firehouse with her husband.
“My husband was like, you know what, let’s tackle this, let’s try to do this because we didn’t want the kids, the ones that we can help, go without. So we’ve pretty much been tackling it since 2017,” Dudgeon said.
Anyone from the community can come in and grab a tag from the tree. The idea is to purchase items from the tag as presents for the kid.
“They can bring the presents back wrapped or unwrapped,” Dudgeon said.
Dudgeon will then contact the child’s guardian. “The fire department can deliver the presents, or we deliver it to them, or they come and pick it up,” she said.
If there are any tags left over at the deadline, Dudgeon said local businesses and banks usually help make sure all the tags are gone.
Dudgeon got involved to make a difference, she said. She has two kids herself, so the Angel Tree program is important to her.
“They’re fortunate to have a lot of the things that these kids are asking for,” she said.
Her two kids participate in the program as well.
“I always tell my kids to take a tag off the tree. They get one and get to buy age appropriate stuff for another kid. It makes me happy at this time of year, especially this year with COVID-19 and just how crazy everything has been, that I can help as many kids as possible.”
HOW TO HELP
Anyone can stop and grab a tag off the tree at the Code Blue Crossfit gym, Candace Dudgeon said. If you grab a tag, she asks that you fill out the notebook by the tree with your name, phone number and tag number. All tags are due by Dec. 16. For information, call (580) 660-1259