HOSPITAL TO MAKE HOLIDAYS BRIGHTER.

Byline: Daily News

LANCASTER - Local residents are invited to join in Antelope Valley Hospital's Angel Tree program and help make the holidays brighter for local families in need.

The ``Angel Tree'' is a Christmas tree decorated with ornamental tags that indicate the wishes of needy children and families who participate in the hospital's Healthy Homes program.

The tree will be on display in the hospital cafeteria through Dec. 15. Community members are invited to take a tag from the tree and then bring an unwrapped gift to the hospital nursing administration office.

Hospital workers will distribute the gifts in time for the holidays.

For the past five years, the hospital's physicians, employees, volunteers, board members and visitors have helped provide warm clothing, food and other gifts for Healthy Homes' families at Christmas.

The Healthy Homes program is designed to prevent child abuse by identifying families at risk from the moment a baby is born and providing them with support for up to five years.

In some hospital departments, hospital employees adopt an entire family, fulfilling their wishes and even providing a holiday dinner, said Les Wong, chief executive officer of Antelope Valley Hospital.

For the past several years, the staff at Lancaster Community Hospital and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3000 Ladies Auxiliary have joined in.

The majority of the families served through Healthy Homes are at or below the poverty level. Most parents are in school, receiving some sort of training or are employed.