Buy a Tree, Change a Life fundraiser starts at Silo Square
Let the tree trimming begin!
The second annual effort in DeSoto County for the national project called Buy a Tree, Change a Life, has started with a ribbon cutting event near the Silo Square clock tower Friday afternoon.
Buy a Tree, Change a Life drives take place across the country each holiday season. Those who buy Christmas trees during the next several weeks before Christmas can support a non-profit globally and locally.
By a Tree, Change a Life was started in 2012 and last year had 59 locations in 17 states, including Southaven and DeSoto County for the first time. The Silo Square effort returned one of the top three fundraising results among the national locations with about $250,000 raised.
In DeSoto County, Buy a Tree, Change a Life helps the Healing Hearts Child Advocacy Center. Half of the money with each purchase and extra donations will go to Healing Hearts Child Advocacy Center and Executive Director Sally Williams said they were very grateful for the support.
Healing Hearts serves to provide advocacy services to victims of child abuse in DeSoto and Tate counties. Willams later said Buy a Tree, Change a Life last year came at an important time for the nonprofit, which had earlier in the year learned several funding sources were not going to fund the center.
“We had a large federal funding cut last year,” Williams. “The proceeds helped us to continue offering the services that we have with no gap in services to any child or family that needed to come see us. I can’t put into words how much we truly appreciate all of the support.”
Williams said fundraisers remain extremely important with the federal funding cuts having not come back.
Volunteers are needed to help the fundraiser, which continues now through Dec. 4, or sooner if the trees sell out. To sign up, click this link.
Local baseball star Austin Riley of the Atlanta Braves will be back on Nov. 30 from 5-7 p.m. to offer personalized signed baseballs for a $100 minimum donation. Pictures with Riley will also be available with donations accepted for that.
