11/11/2001 - Ex-Inmate and Founder of Prison-Based Program for Kids Reaches out to Detroit’s Forgotton Victims

Prison Fellowship’s Angel Tree Founder Brings Message of Hope and Encouragement to Detroit Parents Behind Bars and in the Pews This Weekend, Nov. 10-11

WASHINGTON, D.C., Nov. 9, 2001—This Christmas, 17,000 Michigan children will receive gifts from their parents behind bars because 19 years ago Mary Kay Beard decided to do something about the pain and loneliness these parents and children face, especially during the holiday season.

After spending six Christmases behind bars serving part of a 22-year sentence for burglary, grand larceny, and robbery, Mary Kay Beard watched women in prison gather soap, shampoo, and toothpaste that they received from charity groups to give their kids Christmas gifts. “I realized that children don’t care as much about things as they do about being loved,” said Beard. “When kids receive a Christmas gift from a parent who’s away, they know that they are loved and remembered even if they can’t be together.”

In 1982, Mary Kay Beard founded Angel Tree to help break the cycle of crime by tending to the needs of those most likely to turn to crime and violence—children of prisoners. This weekend she visits two Detroit area prisons and a local church to encourage others to remember the forgotten victims of crime—the children of prisoners. Through Angel Tree, the only national effort to reach out to children whose parents are behind bars, more than 500,000 of the two million children of prisoners nationwide won’t be forgotten this Christmas.

• Mary Kay Beard, ex-inmate and founder of Angel Tree, speaks at Ward Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Northville, 40000 Six Mile Road, Northville, Mich. on Sunday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. Media are invited to attend.

Ward Evangelical Presbyterian Church, one of 600 churches statewide, is reconnecting families by meeting their needs. Thousands of prisoners’ children in the Detroit area will receive gifts this Christmas, but 1,200 Michigan children still do not have a sponsor. To sponsor a child, call the Prison Fellowship Detroit office 
(313) 647-0661.

How it Works
Prisoners sign up for their children to receive Christmas gifts given by Angel Tree volunteers in Christian love on behalf of the incarcerated parent.  Angel Tree volunteers then contact caregivers of the children to solicit their gift wishes. Gift wishes are written on paper angels and hung on Christmas trees placed in participating churches. Volunteers purchase and wrap the requested items and either deliver the gifts in person to the child’s home or host a community Christmas party where the gifts are distributed.

By every measure, these forgotten victims of crime are the most severely at-risk children and youth in America today. These children are at risk for child abuse and neglect, illiteracy, drug and alcohol abuse, crime, violence, incarceration, and premature death. Although there is no single answer, Angel Tree seeks to impact the life of one child at a time and help initiate reconciliation between parent and child. “Angel Tree is now a year-round program helping kids get school supplies, providing mentoring, and even taking kids camping, because the need to be loved doesn’t end with the Christmas season,” Beard said.

MEDIA NOTE: For more information or to schedule an interview with the Angel Tree founder Mary Kay Beard, a local volunteer, or area spokesperson, contact Carissa Mastry or Rob Forrester (770) 813-0000 or (770) 757-0044 or visit www.DeMossNewsPond.com/pf.

- 30 -

<-- Go Back