MP Correctional Facility encourages Angel Tree program participation

Children of inmates at the Mt. Pleasant Correctional Facility will be opening gifts on Christmas Day courtesy of the Angel Tree program.

Over 200 inmates signed up for the program for their children this year, asking about it as early as August. Previous years have had as many as over 500 inmates sign up for the popular Angel Tree program. There is an average of 1,000 inmates at the correctional facility.

'This program allows the individuals to still kind of maintain that parental role by connecting with their children by providing them with toys for Christmas,” said Cory Holloway, chaplain at the Mt. Pleasant Correctional Facility. 'A lot of incarcerated individuals who work in the prison really can't afford to buy their children any gifts. What this program does is it takes that burden off them and allows them to still send gifts to their children and maintain that connection.”

To participate in the Angel Tree program, inmates sign up and participation forms are sent to local churches as close to where the children live as possible. A church coordinator assigns a volunteer to contact the family to verify information and discuss the gift suggestions made by the prisoner-parent.

The gift wishes are transferred to a paper angel tag that hangs on a tree in a church for distribution. Church members select an angel tag, purchase the requested gift, return it to the church for distribution and the church delivers it to the families in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

The News was unable to speak with inmates at the Mt. Pleasant Correctional Facility about the Angel Tree program.

Holiday celebrations at the Mt. Pleasant Correctional Facility don't stop with the Angel Tree program. There is an additional visiting day on Christmas for friends and families.

'A lot of families come and visit, especially family members who are closer. Those families who are far away and not able to make it is really a bad thing, but the majority of time it's a lot of people who visit,” Holloway said. 'I don't know the numbers, but I can say it's one of the busiest times of the year.”

Christmas Day also means bigger meals for inmates and activities they can chose to participate in throughout the day coordinated by the facility's recreational department. Last year, several choirs came to sing at the facility on Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas and inmates played in a baseball tournament.

'It kind of brings together the camaraderie to make it normal like a neighborhood,” Holloway said about the facility's holiday activities.

Last week, the facility brought in former NFL player Rich Garza to speak with the inmates. Holloway said that about 113 people signed up, which is a little over 10 percent of the facility's population. Of that 10 percent, 75 inmates attended Garza's presentation, exceeding staff expectations for attendance.

Garza spoke to inmates about how even though they are at the correctional facility during the holidays this year, it doesn't define who they are.

'It was really well received,” Holloway said. 'Sometimes when there's not much going on (incarcerated individuals) deal with depression and things of that nature. Having activities takes the focus off them being away from their family and lets them know there are still people here to talk to.”

The Mt. Pleasant Correctional Facility gives inmates freedom to celebrate other religious holidays as well. They just wrapped up their eight-day Hanukkah festivities for the inmates in the facility who celebrate, Holloway said. They host Kwanzaa festivities if there are religious groups within the facility who celebrate that holiday.

Holloway said that the facility gives religious freedom to inmates to celebrate other holidays by giving them the time and space to do what they need to do.

'We make sure we accommodate them best we can,” Holloway said. 'As a chaplain, it's important to advocate for people to be able to express their freedom to choose whatever faith they want to express. In prison, that's one of the main things they turn to when they are in trouble. It's one of those aspects of life that when they get real serious can cause a change for the positive.”

Holloway has been employed with the Mt. Pleasant Correctional Facility for four years. He was a psychology assistant before being hired for the chaplain position two years ago. He also ministers at Union Baptist Church in Burlington under the Rev. Lawrence Manson.

Holloway said he considers himself to be more of a full-gospel, nondenomination minister than a Baptist minister. He said he accepts anyone's belief or religious practice and doesn't pass judgment on them for what they want to believe.

'It's just making sure they have what they need in order to express their religious beliefs and extend that freedom of choice,” Holloway said.

This time of year is an 'array of emotions,” Holloway said. While the Angel Tree program gives inmates a way to connect with their children, it also reminds them of the time they miss spending with their family. Holloway said he makes sure to provide counseling services during this time especially for inmates to talk to him or other staff members.

'It's one of those seasons where you have to make sure you provide for both spectra of emotions,” Holloway said.