Ten years ago, Annamaria Weaver looked at her four young sons, and something in her wanted more for them. She wanted to instill a love of serving others, but she didn’t quite know how. That thought has turned into a thriving organization called the Giving Tree that gives to those in need during the holidays.
“About 10 years ago, I was sitting on the couch with my husband and I wanted to find something we could do for the coming holiday season where our boys could learn to serve with their hearts,” Weather recalled. “We didn’t want it to be a simple donation of money, but something they could create with their own hands to sell and then take that money and give it to those in need. We wanted a full hands-on experience.
“I don’t know where the though came from,” she continued. “But we had a pine tree in our front yard and I saw all these pine cones on the lawn and I thought, ‘Oh, those would be great to make ornaments out of, and then maybe we could sell those.’ So it started with pine cones.”
That year, Weaver and her four boys painted and decorated pinecones, turning them into ornaments. They sold them door-to-door in their then neighborhood in New Mexico. That first year, they made $100 which they took to purchase items to donate to a women’s shelter.
“The mothers at that shelter had children and we got toys for them, and that was super special,” Weaver said. “I think my husband dressed up as Santa Claus and we were his elves. We delivered the stuff in a big Santa bag. I remember we would have the boys go door-to-door and knock with baskets full of ornaments. It was kind of cute. They would say, ‘Would you like to buy some? We’re gonna donate to the women’s shelter.’”
That following year, the Weavers moved to Elk Ridge, Utah. Even though they didn’t know anyone, they knew that they wanted to continue their Giving Tree project. That year, they added acorn ornaments to the pinecones, and made twice as much money as they did the following year.
It was that next year when they connected with Skylar Peterson of Peterson Trees. Peterson has a Tree lot that she owns with her husband, and Weaver said that this meeting began a nearly decade-long relationship where they have been able to sell their ornaments to visitors of the lot.
That partnership led Weaver and her family to start creating ornaments from recycled Christmas trees gathered by the Peterson’s. She and her boys remove the branches of the trees, slice the trunk into disks, and decorate them.
“Every year since then, we’ve been able to sell at the tree a lot,” Weaver said. “After the season is over, we gather their Christmas trees. We also post on Facebook, asking residents to donate their trees. We go with our trailer and all my boys help load the trees, and we bring them home and cut off all the branches and slice them into disks to make ornaments.”
In order to streamline the process, the Weavers purchased a laser printer that is hooked up to software on their computer. The images on the ornaments, Weaver said, are Christ-centered.
“Most of our ornaments are Christ centered,” she said. “It’s special having a tree full of ornaments that remind us of the reason for the season – to treat and love others as Christ does.”
As the years went on, little by little the Weavers would make a little more money to donate to causes and those in need, and last year, they were able to earn $1,500.
“We’ve done multiple charities over the last 10 years,” Weaver said. “We’ve donated to refugees, shelters, a family whose father had cancer, and to a single mother of eight children. There have been times when we’ve taken cash to give to people we’ve heard were in need.”
Weaver said that the process is a lot of work, and there are times when it gets overwhelming, but they keep at it by reminding themselves why they started in the first place.
“Two weeks before Thanksgiving, we really go to town and put up Santa’s workshop in our house, basically,” She said. We’re making ornaments all day every day. I do it while the boys are at school, and then they come home and take turns switching it out. We drill the holes, we put thread through, and we turn on Christmas music. It’s really a time to be like, this is not about us; this is about giving our love to other people. It also really does help bring in the spirit of Christmas into our home.”
The Giving Tree ornaments are sold at the Peterson Tree lot on 1066 N. State Road in Salem, which is open Monday – Thursday 12-8:30 p.m., and Friday – Saturday 9 a.m.- 9 p.m.
