HomeCommunity NewsGiving Tree a holiday...

Giving Tree a holiday tradition

HOLMES BEACH – As she does every year, Paradise Bagels & Cafe owner Jackie Estes is asking the Island community to support her annual Giving Tree project that assists underprivileged children during the Christmas holidays.

The Giving Tree near the front door of the Paradise Bagels & Cafe dining room contains removable tags that provide an unnamed child’s age, size and Christmas wishes.

“This is our 20th year of doing the tree. We started with Anna Maria Elementary School, and then other people heard about us and asked if we had room in our hearts to help some foster kids and some of the kids that live in town,” Estes said.

Recipient families are vetted in advance to help ensure the donated gifts go to those in need, and Estes does not accept cash or gift cards as part of her Giving Tree charity.

“It says on our sign, ‘Will you help a child have Christmas?’ Take a tag, buy a gift, wrap it and affix the tag to the gift. Drop it off by Dec. 20, and we’ll get it to either the school, the church or the foster kids we’re working with. Lately, the school has had me call the parents to pick the gifts up here because the school closes so early for the holidays,” Estes said.

“The tags don’t have a name. It has a child’s age and size and what they would like. Most of them ask for socks and some of them ask for pajamas, underwear, an outfit and stuff like that. I always ask the people who take a tag to please buy them something to wear because they need it, and buy them some kind of gift because they want it – a toy or something,” Estes said.

“We only take children up to age 15. We don’t take the older kids anymore, but we do take multiple siblings from the same family,” she added.

Estes worked on her Giving Tree project with former Anna Maria Elementary guidance counselor Cindi Harrison for many years, and now she’s working with the school’s new counselor.

“I do this because my foster boy, Ty, went to Anna Maria Elementary many years ago, and he came home and said this little girl wears the same dress every day. I went to bring some clothes to the school and she had tape around her shoe holding the bottom on. So, I said what can we do to help? Let me take this little girl and get her some clothes and shoes. They asked the dad and the dad said it was OK,” Estes recalled.

This led her to conclude there were other kids and families on the Island that needed help – including children whose parents were part of the Island’s service industry, including single moms working as waitresses.

“We were sometimes doing 50-60 kids, but now it’s less because the Island is so expensive and none of the servers can afford to live here. But there are still children of the servers and waitresses that go to the school and some of them struggle,” Estes said.

The Paradise Bagels Giving Tree goes up before the annual Thanksgiving dinner Estes and her staff provide for those in need.

“This year we fed 126 people and cooked 16 turkeys. You get all you want to eat and then there’s pies, cakes and cookies,” Estes said.

To assist a child or learn more about the Giving Tree efforts, visit Paradise Bagels at 3210 East Bay Drive in Holmes Beach. The cafe is in the Anna Maria Island Shops near Walgreens. You can also call Paradise Bagels at 941-779-1212.

Most Popular

More from Author

Six charter amendments proposed

ANNA MARIA –The Anna Maria Charter Review Committee is propos­ing six...

AMI Moose Lodge hosts kids’ Easter party

BRADENTON BEACH – Due to rainy weather, Saturday morning’s Easter egg...

Business owners oppose multi-use path extension

ANNA MARIA – Some business owners are concerned about the city’s...

Anna Maria seeks to amend CBD prohibitions

ANNA MARIA – The city of Anna Maria is trying to...

Floridian Mortgage wins championship

ANNA MARIA – Spring has sprung and winter sports at The Center are coming to a close, with team Floridian Mortgage earning the win against team Moss Builders Thursday night in the adult co-ed flag football championship game. The top two teams in the league matched up in...

Man completes Chamber passport program in five hours

ANNA MARIA ISLAND - The annual Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce’s Passport Program is a fun way for residents and visitors to the Island to get out and discover Island businesses with a passport offered for free by the chamber. Participants are encouraged to get their passports...

One ARK Foundation raises funds for foster families

live music, delicious food and spirited fundraising as the One ARK Foundation held its second annual “Kindness Matters Extravaganza” at The Cheesecake Cutie & Cafe on March 21. “One ARK” stands for “one act of random kindness” and is a newly-established 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded by The Cheesecake...

Save our homes

This column should be titled “Save our Taxes,” since that’s what we’re really talking about. However, saving on property taxes is part of the Save Our Homes benefits and portability transfers are another piece of this law. In January of 2008, the Florida Legislature passed legislation that allows...

 Reel Time: Salon fundraiser meets with success

Salon (noun) - a conversational gathering of notables held at the home of a prominent person. On Saturday afternoon, Suncoast Waterkeeper held its Suncoast Salon fundraiser at the Sarasota home of Anna Maria residents Bill and Debbie Partridge. The event was a sellout and attracted some of...

Temporary paid parking vendors hired

BRADENTON BEACH – City commissioners considered four temporary use parking permits at the March 21 commission meeting and after much discussion, approved three with stipulations, denying one. Permit applications were submitted by developer Shawn Kaleta for temporary parking lots at 102 Third St. N., 207 Church Ave. and...

Fire department sued over rental regulations

BRADENTON – Almost a year after passing a resolution changing the district’s approach to taxing and inspecting vacation rental properties in residential areas, West Manatee Fire Rescue is receiving pushback from one rental owner. During a March 19 commission meeting, the district’s attorney, Maggie Mooney, informed the board...

Bridge Street traffic, parking among commission concerns

BRADENTON BEACH – In what was an unusually lengthy, seven-hour city commission meeting that began at noon on March 21, commissioners dove into parking and traffic issues, pickleball and organ donation. BRIDGE STREET ONE WAY? A Bridge Street business owner asked the commission to consider making Bridge Street one...

Scaccianoce new Bradenton Beach commissioner

BRADENTON BEACH – Ward 1 has a new commissioner. The application for commissioner by business owner and former Manatee County records manager Deborah Scaccianoce was approved by the commission and she was sworn in at its March 21 meeting. She filled the vacant seat left by former Commissioner Jake...

Kruse talks beach parking, Island consolidation

HOLMES BEACH – About two dozen people came out on March 20 to meet with Manatee County Commissioner George Kruse, bringing their questions for the candidate, who is seeking re-election in November. Kruse held a town hall meeting at the Island Branch Library where he answered every question...

Commissioners deny bids for paid parking

BRADENTON BEACH – Rather than partnering with an outside vendor as planned, commissioners are now considering city-managed paid parking lots throughout Bradenton Beach. The city had put out a Request for Proposals (RFP) on Feb. 9 to “Provide the City with a complete parking management and enforcement system...