our story
In 2019, we had the opportunity to buy the field behind our house. When deciding what to do with the property, Bill only had one thought... he wanted to plant Christmas trees. His idea was to grow the trees so family and friends could come and pick their perfect tree, in exchange for a donation that could be used to help someone at Christmas.
In mid-December 2020, Bill was at work, talking to a co-worker about his idea. A local business owner was on a service call at Bill's work. He asked him what was stopping him from moving forward. Bill explained that the trees grow about one foot each year so he would need to purchase pre-cut trees, which would cost money. The business owner immediately handed him a check saying, "Go buy the trees."
Within a few hours, Bill had a friend helping to get pre-cut trees at a wholesale price, and another friend contacting "Santa" to visit. In total for 2020, Angel Tree Farms opened one day, the week before Christmas, for friends and family. Twenty-three trees were handed out, including seven that were donated and delivered to families financially affected by the COVID quarantine
The donation that year totaled $1000.00. We decided to give the money to the Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley, a non-profit that helps over 300 local families as they battle childhood cancer. Over the years, PCFLV has helped our family, our friends' children, and members of our community.
In 2021, we began planting trees and were again gifted money from several local businesses, enough to get 80 pre-cut trees. Between friends, family, and neighbors, the donation totaled $5000.00. Going into our 2022 season brought many new experiences. We attended their first tree auction, built a shed for Santa, were interviewed by WFMZ News, and went to the Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley's, Holiday Stroll. In 2022, a total of 165 trees were exchanged for a donation totaling $11,000.
In 2023, we held their first annual Christmas In July fundraising event. It was a huge success! The Christmas In July fundraiser builds funds for their operating costs so at Christmas time, every dollar collected is donated.
During our 2023 Christmas season, we continued to grow and gain traction in the community with news articles by Lehigh Valley News and the Emmaus High School Stinger. We sold 418 trees and were able to make a donation to PCFLV totaling $20,000. We also gave a $2,000 dollar grant to The Kindness Project, a non-profit that provides free support to foster families throughout eastern Pennsylvania.
2024 demonstrated our mission of Growing Generosity in the Community! Our second annual Christmas In July event at the Alburtis Community Center almost doubled the funds raised last year! 634 trees were sold. $30,000 was donated to PCFLV and $4000 was donated to The Kindness Project.
We look to the future and hope to add other organizations to our donation list.