Augusta, GA
Salvation Army of Augusta encourages community to help ‘Forgotten Angels’ this Christmas
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – As the Salvation Army of Augusta prepares for its annual Angel Tree gift distribution, the organization is reminding the community that some children are still at risk of being left without presents this holiday season.
Every year, hundreds of local children are sponsored through the Angel Tree program. But when gifts don’t make it back in time—which happens more often than many realize—the Salvation Army must work quickly in the final days before Christmas to fill in the gaps. These children become known as Forgotten Angels.
Nearly 1,300 children across the region are expected to receive Angel Tree gifts this year. Wish lists often include coats, science kits, hats, gloves, and other essentials.
Villalta says the children most often overlooked are older ones.
“Typically older children are the ones that are the last to get adopted, and that’s who we ask folks to get these supplemental gifts for,” she said.
“People love to adopt younger children, and that makes sense. At the same time, there’s a lot of older children in our program. Our program goes up to age 12.”
Older kids also tend to receive fewer items because their tags are selected later in the season or, in other cases, the gifts are never returned.
Villalta says staff worried this year’s government shutdown and economic challenges might result in fewer donations, but the CSRA stepped up.
“We’re so grateful to have a generous community. They really showed out,” Villalta said. “Even just here at the Kroc Center, the tree is bare—which is a great thing for us, because it means the community has done its job and we’ve done our job to make sure every child in the area is going to have a Christmas morning.”
For Katelin Moon, who is the general manager at Panera Bread in Grovetown, supporting Angel Tree is deeply meaningful.
She grew up in a family that struggled financially and remembers her mother working hard to make Christmas special. Seeing families choose tags inside her restaurant brings that experience full circle.
“I grew up with a very poor family, and I’m sure there were times where my mom probably had to use Angel Tree for us to make sure we woke up to a wonderful Christmas,” Moon said.
“It just means the world, because kids are the purest things, and they deserve the world.”
Forgotten Angel Tree tags are available at locations throughout the CSRA. Some locations may no longer have tags.
- New Moon Cafe – Downtown Augusta
- Panera Bread – Augusta, Evans & Grovetown
- Augusta Mall – 3450 Wrightsboro Rd, Augusta, GA
- Evans Walmart Supercenter – 4469 Washington Rd, Evans, GA
- North Augusta Walmart Supercenter – 1201 Knox Ave, North Augusta, SC
The Salvation Army encourages anyone who can give to consider picking up a tag and helping ensure no child is forgotten this Christmas.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Augusta University’s Healthy Grandparents program had its Christmas party Sunday.
Santa is continuing his trip across the csra and was at the party to give presents to the kids.
The program was started in 1999 to support grandparents raising their children.
They help with necessary services like food assistance and transportation.
We spoke with one of the grandparents about the program.
“My grandchildren love it. They do a lot of things going on the year, like summer camp and all that stuff, book bag, getaways,” said Carolyn Thompson.
The program has helped more than 660 families, 900 grandparents, and 1,300 grandchildren.
Copyright 2025 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
Augusta, Ga. – In a game that saw 19 lead changes, Georgia College and State prevailed over Augusta 99-91 in overtime Saturday at Christenberry Fieldhouse. The Jaguars fall to 2-2 in Peach Belt Conference play and 6-7 overall. The Bobcats are now 3-0 in conference play and 6-2 overall.
C.J. Jones of GCSU was the star of this one as he poured in 42 points to lead all scorers and also grabbed eight rebounds in the win.
The Jaguars fell behind midway through the second half, but with just one second left in regulation, T.J. Baker hit a three-pointer to send the game into overtime. But in the extra period, GCSU outscored AU 18-10 for the winning margin.
Luis Nonfon, who had another double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, started the scoring in overtime and gave the Jags the 83-81 lead. GCSU then rattled off five straight points to take the lead, one they would not surrender.
The Jaguars had five players in double figures led by Elías Pálsson who tallied 22 points while grabbing eight rebounds. T.J. Baker and Tobias Prall each had 18 points while Charlie McBeath scored 13.
Augusta hit on just 35% of their shots from the field while GCSU hit on 52.5%. The Bobcats outscored Augusta 46-22 in the paint and went 8-18 from three-point range while Augusta finished 10 of 29 from deep. From the foul line, both teams went 29-36.
Other than Nonfon grabbing double figures in rebounds, Pálsson eight rebounds and was a perfect 12-12 from the foul line.
Next up for the Jaguars will be a battle with Reinhardt University on Thursday at 11 a.m., part of Columbia County Education Day.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Richmond County started a search for an armed robbery suspect Saturday evening.
They started the search on the 3700 block of Wheeler Road after an alleged armed robbery at an SRP ATM.
The suspect is described as a 40-year-old black male, wearing all black, a face mask and a camouflage jacket.
The suspect fled the area on foot in an unknown direction.
The sheriff’s office used K9 Units, along with the drone unit, to search.
This investigation is in its early stages, and no further information is available at this time.
Copyright 2025 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
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