The Giving Tree is erected once again to make the Christmas wishes of hundreds of local kids come true for its 19th year. The Giving Tree is located in the middle of the SURC right before the entrance to the Marketplace.

To take part in the giving, simply grab one of the dozens of wish lists hanging on the tree and then go shopping. Once the shopping is done place the gifts back under the tree before Dec. 1, that way all of the presents find their way to the kids on time.

After all of the gifts are collected the next step in this Secret Santa process is to sort out the gifts, this is done by volunteers on Dec. 5 and the presents will then be delivered to the different schools the next day.

“The process takes at least a day and it’ll probably [take] longer this year, especially because this year we’re incorporating Mattawa Elementary School, which is over an hour away,” said Kim Jellison, an organizer and advocate of the giving tree.

Counselors at the elementary schools asked students at their schools what they would like for Christmas and those wishes were written on tags along with the gender and age of the child. The lists were then placed on the Giving Tree for college students who would like to contribute to the Christmas spirit to pick up.

“The most common gift request is clothes like warm coats, hats and gloves,” said Ashley Anderson, marketing major and another organizer for the Giving Tree.

Due to the marketing done by Anderson and Jellison, a large majority of the tags on the tree are taken care of every year. This in turn speaks volumes about the generosity of the student body here at CWU.

Even though a majority of the tags get claimed, there are always gifts to be bought and wishes to be fulfilled for the children in the area.

According to Anderson, official preparations for the Giving Tree began in September and the process of getting the tree ready takes a while.

“It’s time consuming to get all the teachers and counselors to gather everyone and get specifics of age and gender and what they want. It’s difficult,” Anderson said. “But they do a really great job and we got them all back. We have a lot more schools than past years and from there it’s just busy work like writing the tags and stuff and then everyone else does the hard part of grabbing the tags and getting them presents.”

In the end it is all worth it Anderson said, “it’s great seeing all the gifts in here three days before we deliver them because they are everywhere. There’s usually so many gifts you can’t even walk; it just seems like holiday is everywhere.”

For Jellison the most rewarding part is the delivery itself. “We don’t get to see the kids receive them but you get to see the teachers and counselors you give them to,” Jellison said.

In the future, the two plan to add more schools and more organizations such as clubs, senates and athletic teams to ensure that the Giving Tree continues to grow and that fewer children are left out during the holidays.

“The giving tree expanding yearly doesn’t surprise us because of the economy, more and more people are in need and this is just a way for us to help them out,” Anderson said.

This year there are 100 more gifts for the drive than last year; two years ago the average was 200 gifts and now that number has grown to around 500.

The Giving Tree is not only open to the wish lists that are on the tree. There are also stocking stuffer bags for the gifts that don’t fall into the categories on the lists. Stocking stuffer bags can also be found near the Giving Tree and will act, as the name suggests, as stockings. These bags will contain essentials for the children like arts and craft supplies, gloves, hats, and scarves.

Both Jellison and Anderson are hopeful that all the tags will be gone by Nov. 28.

“It’s very surprising we get so many gifts under the tree because college students aren’t in the best financial state and their willing to give some extra money just to help someone else,” said Anderson.

Though, perhaps another one of the most important parts of the Giving Tree is that by providing even just one gift may prove to children all over the city that Santa is in fact real.