Different tree, same mission.

Byline: Karen McCowan / The Register-Guard

CALL IT A CASE of "how the economic downturn stole Christmas" - or at least pilfered a prized tradition epitomizing the spirit of the season.

The Salvation Army, squeezed between a drop in contributions and an increase in demand for help with basic necessities, decided that it no longer had the resources to administer the interagency Tree of Joy.

For years, the Christian charity had sponsored a large tree in the middle of Valley River Center. Shoppers could peruse and pluck off felt ornaments, each bearing the first name and gift wish of a needy local resident. The shopper would find and purchase the gift, wrap it and return it to the tree.

The Salvation Army would then regularly retrieve the wrapped presents and distribute them to various agencies that had provided the person's name and needs.

"It had become such a large, large program," said Robert Villanueva, director of social services for the Lane County Salvation Army. "It was a lot of work for us, trying to sort and distribute 9,000 to 10,000 gifts."

The same recession that's put a damper on contributions has swollen the ranks of the hungry and homeless, said the group's business manager, Linda Sale.

"We felt it was more important to see that people are fed, clothed and have dry shelter" than to do the tree, she said.

The Valley River Tree of Joy was missed even before the first big wave of Christmas shoppers flooded the mall Friday.

I got a call nearly two weeks ago from a woman whose husband works with disabled adults. She'd heard about the demise of the tree and was dismayed: In past years, it provided the only Christmas gift many of his clients got.

Last week, I heard from Shasta Middle School teacher Zall Villanueva (no relation to Robert), who also was concerned.

"We've been doing Tree of Joy gifts as a community service project for the past six years," he said. "I'm wondering what's going to happen to the hundreds of people who depend on the Tree of Joy for their Christmas? I know many people, including some of our students and their families, who've been helped by it in the past."

BUT HARK: Not all is lost. Valley River, one of its merchants and another local agency have stepped into the breach.

The shopping center has again provided free space for the tree, just outside the entrance to the Christmas Corner near Meier & Frank. Christmas Corner manager Katie Reiter provided a 10-foot tree - and the staff and storage space to run the project. And the Relief Nursery, a nonprofit agency providing child care and parenting classes to prevent child abuse, has decked the renamed "Holiday Tree" with ornaments listing gift wishes of its clients.

Relief Nursery tags will adorn the tree through Dec. 10, Reiter said. After that, it has agreed to make the tree available for tags from other agencies that may have participated in Tree of Joy in the past.

Some folks are still disappointed that tags from a whole range of agencies won't be up for the entire holiday shopping season - especially after learning that the Salvation Army notified Valley River Center back in July that it would not do the project this year.

"I'm just sort of surprised that they just scaled it back with no notice to the community," Zall Villanueva said. "With some advance notice, maybe someone else would have come forward to do it all."

United Way of Lane County, which also received several calls of concern about the Tree of Joy's demise, noted that there are similar trees in other area communities, including Cottage Grove, Junction City and Veneta. In addition, the Salvation Army is sponsoring two smaller tree projects, for its clients younger than 18, at the south Eugene Rite-Aid and at the Eugene Wal-Mart store.

The Valley River Tree of Joy was a traditional day-after-Thanksgiving stop for Rolanda Garcia and her 9-year-old daughter, Samantha.

Puzzled when the tree wasn't in its usual central location, the pair were relieved to find the Relief Nursery version Friday morning. After much perusing, Samantha chose a tag reading, "Christine, 7 years old, dress shoes, size 12."

"I don't think this location is as good," Garcia said. "But I'm glad we found it. We like to do this every year. I let her pick the tag, shop for it herself, take it home and wrap it, and bring it back."

Such personalization and "ownership" of that mission is what makes such programs so rewarding for both giver and receiver, Zall Villanueva said. "It's heart-warming to see how much our students really get into this," he said. "It's a great lesson that Christmas is about more than getting."

Karen McCowan can be reached at 338-2422 or via e-mail at [e-mail].