A P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E S A LVAT I O N A R M Y S O U T H ER N T ER R I TO R Y
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CHARLIE’S ANGELS BY BR AD ROWL AND A ND JOSHUA MU I R In 2010, Charlie Borowczak’s parents adopted an angel from The Salvation Army Angel Tree program, and his life has simply never been the same. Borowczak explains that his parents were attempting to “model the spirit of giving” for the then-six-year-old, and that aim was clearly fulfilled. “My mom explained to me that there are some families that can’t afford Christmas gifts for their kids,” Borowczak says. “As a sixyear-old, it didn’t fully sink in right away. But at Christmas, I was standing there holding my little slip of paper of the angel I adopted, and we were talking about it. I glanced under the tree at my own presents, then back at the angel, and I paused, and a light bulb goes off in my brain that this is a real need. Because of what we did, there is another kid that gets presents tomorrow morning, and that, growing up, it was never something I had to worry about. That’s when it sunk in how important this type of project is in so many communities across America.” After that seminal moment, Borowczak says he found clear inspiration that spurred immediate action. “I remember what that moment felt like, and I was like, ‘I want to do this again, and I want to make this tradition.’”
Photos provided by Charlie Borowczak
The following year, Borowczak raised money–as an elementary school student–to adopt two angels on his own. “I made a video for family and friends asking them to hire me for odd jobs, and so on,” he explains. Then, the next year, he did the same. Eventually, his self-described “angel project” outgrew his own individual capabilities, and he launched “Charlie’s Angels,” a team of volunteers who continue to aid Charlie in shopping for the gifts to present to children using the money he raised to adopt them.
By the time Borowczak was a senior in high school, he had raised approximately $70,000 and adopted 700 angels in a single Christmas season. “I’m so thankful to the donors, and we wouldn’t be where we are without them,” he says. After beginning his undergraduate studies at Texas A&M University, Charlie took his freshman year off from the project, making sure to “get his feet under him” in a new “Charlie’s Angels...” continued on page 2
Viral Views Bring in Angel Tree Toys BY MA JOR FR ANK DUR ACHER Normally on social media, when a post goes “viral” it’s an ultimate accomplishment, like hitting a game-winning home run. But when that post results in blessing hundreds of deserving children at Christmastime, that’s even better! That is what happened when Kathaleen
Mallard posted a series of videos about the Army’s Angel Tree program on her TikTok account. She initially didn’t expect so many “likes” from across the country and even around the world, resulting in donations to the Angel Tree program promoted by the corps in Henderson, North Carolina. The result is evidence of the influence of young adults through social media.
Kathaleen Mallard’s Angel Tree posts brought some two million views and over 100,000 likes from around the world.
The packages are brought inside to be properly sorted and readied for parents/guardians to receive them just before Christmas.
“I actually began doing this last year, when my mom was stationed in Winston-Salem,” Kathaleen says. During Christmas 2023 she produced videos from that area command’s Angel Tree program, which obviously set the stage for an unprecedented response to this year’s effort—now in Henderson with her mom’s transfer last June. “Kathaleen was posting behind the scenes videos about the Angel Tree online,” says Major Beth Mallard, Kathaleen’s mom and Henderson Corps officer. “One video I clicked on had 123,000 likes and more than one million views. We started getting presents from all over the country.” The bubbly 22-year-old isn’t keeping up with vital statistics about her followers, but she figures that “likes” and “comments” have come from most, if not all, of the nation’s 50 states. “I do know that toy donations have come from generous people in Washington State and California, which would probably be the farthest donation origin,” she says. Her nationwide donors typically purchase and ship the toys for their adopted angels through Amazon. Kathaleen’s grandfa“Viral Views...” continued on page 2