Local resident Lissa Hussian and her neighbors at 15 Broad are 11 years into a partnership with the Salvation Army where they sponsor the Christmas lists of downtown children, making sure they get three gifts each for the holidays. It’s quite an operation — all the kids (and this year for the first time, shut-in seniors) are vetted by the Salvation Army staff and live south of 14th Street. Each child is assigned a name and number, then they are matched with sponsors. At 15 Broad, residents there fulfilled 138 wishlists last year — the #1 contributor of sponsorships for the downtown Salvation Army office.

And they want to top their record this year, so they are open to adding more sponsors from the neighborhood. If you want to join the effort, email Lissa at 15broadangeltree@gmail.com.

Once Lissa gets the list of kids, she assigns each to a neighbor who then does the shopping and brings her the loot. She and her mother, daughter and best friend then make sure each list is complete and package it up for the Salvation Army lieutenant who comes to her building (good thing she’s a professional organizer). The gifts are left unwrapped so parents of the wishers can come and wrap themselves at the 14th Street center, just to keep the magic alive.

“The requests can include anything from Legos and dolls to winter coats and shoes. It runs the gamut, but no single gift is extravagant (no iPads or gaming systems here!) and in almost all cases, these are the only gifts these children will receive this year, which makes it all the more devastating to see requests for socks and sheets,” said Lissa.

All gifts are due by Sunday, Dec. 15, to the concierge at 15 Broad. This is a strict deadline in order to comply with Salvation Army distribution dates. Gifts can also be shipped directly to the building; instructions will be included with your confirmation email.