Coastal Hospice prepares for annual Angel Tree program

SALISBURY, Md. — The holiday season is upon us, and with it, angel trees are making their return to town. Coastal Hospice is highlighting the importance of the program this year.

Kerrie Bunting, lead of Coastal Hospice’s donor relations team, explained, “We have Christmas trees located all over our service area, which includes Dorchester, Wicomico, Worcester, and Somerset counties.”

This holiday season, the community is invited to support those in the final stages of their journey, as well as their families.

“We send out more than 6,000 Christmas cards with little angel ornaments attached,” Bunting said. “Donors can write the names of loved ones who have passed on the angels and return the cards with a donation.”

Once received, the ornaments bearing the names of those memorialized are hung on trees in designated locations throughout the region.

Bunting noted that many families have been touched by hospice care over the 45 years Coastal Hospice has been in service, almost as long as the concept of hospice itself.

“Coastal Hospice was one of the first hospices to open in the United States and the first in Salisbury,” she said. “I’ve recently experienced a lot of loss myself, and there’s a hole left in the family — a void. You want to remember that person in a meaningful way.”

Community members can participate by visiting one of Coastal Hospice’s locations or by going online to donate and memorialize their loved ones.

“Although the cards have already been mailed, we are already receiving many generous donations in memory of those who have passed,” Bunting added.

The angel trees are not up yet, but they will be displayed after Thanksgiving.