Hays honored for community service
Pauls Valley’s Angel Tree program got its start in 1970, when Billie Hays and her co-workers at the Garvin County Health Department helped pull together gifts for 16 children who they knew were facing a Christmas season without presents.
“Back then, we would call individuals (to solicit donations). I remember the first one I called, and I said, ‘I need a baby carriage,’ and I remember that’s what she bought. And then it just continued to grow and grow from there,” said Hays, who was a registered nurse for the health department at the time.
Fifty-one years later Hays is still spearheading the program which provides Christmas gifts to families in need in the Pauls Valley area. This year, the Angel Tree program provided Christmas gifts for 129 families – a total of 373 children – in the Pauls Valley and Whitebead School districts.
“It all works out so wonderfully, just like it was meant to be. Every bit of it just flows through,” Hays said. “And it’s so much fun to see them come get it. It just does your heart good.”
Over the years, the program has become a community-wide project with businesses, civic organizations, first responders, churches and citizens all contributing.
Angel Tree now partners with the Nora Sparks Warren Library staff, who provide a central location for accepting applications and help with adopting Angels out to community members who provide gifts. Pauls Valley’s First Christian Church provides storage space for collected items, as well as a space for sorting and operations during the Christmas season.
“The people in town are so good (to give),” Hays said. “We have so many people who call and ask what else we need.”
While Angel Tree operates primarily during the Christmas season, the giving spirit it represents is a lifestyle for Hays, who continues to use her network of resources throughout the year to provide services to those who need clothing, who are facing hardships, homelessness or poverty, or who have unmet medical needs.
Last week, a small group of family and friends gathered in the basement of the First Christian Church to celebrate as Hays was presented with a Citation of Appreciation from the Oklahoma Legislature for her years of work with the Angel Tree project and other volunteer efforts in the community.
“There is no one like Ms. Billie. She has given so much back to this community,” said Joshua Kraft, who presented the citation to Hays on behalf of Sen. Greg McCortney and Rep. Cindy Roe. “She’s helped so many people and made it possible for so many people to celebrate Christmas.”
As she accepted the honor, Hays told the group gathered, “The truth of all of it is I couldn’t do one thing without you all. It would just be nothing. Because I can pick up the phone and I can call and the answer has never, not one time, been no. It’s always been yes, and it’s always been, ‘What more can I do?’ It’s not me. It’s you.”
Friend and fellow community volunteer Jocelyn Rushing said Hays has a unique ability to encourage others to get involved regardless of their circumstances, and to unite people who might not otherwise take the time, or have the opportunity, to work together or get to know each other.
“What I love the very most about Billie is she embraces anyone who wants to come along and help. Not often do people do that, and that’s something we would all do well to emulate,” Rushing said. “She taught me that volunteerism isn’t about how much you have but what you’re willing to do.”
