The Giving Tree returns ahead of holiday season

With the holiday season in full swing, The Giving Tree is making its return to Umpqua Bank ahead of the Christmas season.

Forms for The Giving Tree are now available to be picked up at Umpqua Bank on 108 E 1st Ave. The forms need to be turned back into the bank no later than Nov. 30. The bank will not accept any forms that are turned in late.

The community can start picking tags off the tree the first week of December to purchase gifts for the families. All presents will need to be dropped off no later than Friday, Dec. 14. Presents will be available to be picked up from Dec. 18 to Dec. 20.

Every year, Umpqua Bank puts up a tree in their bank. Less fortunate and low-income families can pick up a form to fill out for gifts that members of the community can buy for the family’s children. According to Danielle Bolin with Umpqua Bank, the forms allow for someone to list two different options for gifts for the child that a community member could get for them.

Umpqua Bank takes the information about the gifts from the forms and makes gift tags that they put on the Christmas tree, and community members are able to come in and pick a tag from the tree and get those gifts for one of the children. No other information about the child or the family is available, which helps protect their privacy.

The community members can bring their gifts for the children back either wrapped or unwrapped, and Umpqua Bank places the gifts under the tree for families to come and pick up between Dec. 18 and Dec. 20. Bolin says that the bank will deliver the gifts to the families if they can’t come in during that time to pick up the gifts in person.

Bolin says it is something that Umpqua Bank has been doing ever since she started working there in 2014. The Giving Tree is something that the individual Umpqua Bank in Ritzville does, not Umpqua Bank as a whole.

“It’s just something nice that we try to do every year to help out some of the less fortunate families in town,” said Bolin.

Umpqua Bank also has an account set up for people to make a cash donation if they don’t want to go out and find a gift. Bolin says that they will usually take that money and go to places such as Harvest Foods to buy a gift certificate that will allow them to purchase groceries. They then include that gift certificate with each of the gifts they receive.

Bolin says that the overall success of The Giving Tree mostly depends on the community being reminded that it’s that time of year again. The bank was worried last year that there wouldn’t be as many forms as usual turned in until an avalanche of forms came in at the deadline.

“I think everyone in the community is usually pretty aware of The Giving Tree because it’s been around for awhile, so they know how it works,” said Bolin. “It’s just getting the word out there to those that need a reminder.”

Employees at the bank have been spreading the information via community Facebook pages and word-of-mouth, as well. Bolin said that they might consider making a Facebook page just for The Giving Tree in the future.