Giving Trees around Albuquerque allow the community to give to children in need
By Mia Casas
December 9, 2025 at 3:01 PM MST
The holidays are coming up fast. While this is a season of gifts and family for many, not all are fortunate enough to have these luxuries. In Albuquerque, 16% of the population lives under the federal poverty line. This means that most families are using the little income they have to put a roof over their heads and food in their bellies.
Arlene Espinoza-Armijo is the development director of the University of New Mexico’s Comprehensive Cancer Center. She heads multiple community organizations, one being the Dukes Track Club. This is where she saw the initial need for the community to come together for a big cause.
“Right now, there are really important benefits that are being cut from a lot of people who don't always have the privilege and the luxury of being able to speak up for themselves– I felt like if there's a way for me to support, rally around individuals in my community, this is the way,” Armijo said.
She made a few calls to partners who support the Dukes Track Club and started her own Giving Tree project.
Michael Thomas Coffee often works with the community, and provided a list of schools to Armijo with children in need. She called the schools and each said yes.
“The schools told me that the community partners they’ve had in the past who worked on this type of thing have all said that they can’t partner with them this year, so they had a tremendous need,” Armijo said.
Inside Heart and Sole Sports on San Mateo, tags with a child's age, gender, shoe and clothing size, and small wishlist hang from a Christmas tree as part of Arlene Espinoza-Armijo's Giving Tree initiative. (3024x4032, AR: 0.75)
The idea is to assign a tag to each child in need, put them on a tree, and community members can pick up as many tags as they wish to provide gifts for these kids.
“These are children who are forming their ideals and their opinions of the world right now and if there is one thing that I can hope that this act of kindness imparts on them is that there are people in the community that care about them,” Armijo said.
There are 130 tags representing students from four different schools. Whittier and Hawthorn Elementary Schools, Wilson Middle School , and Highland High School.
Tags are spread between two trees in town, one at Michael Thomas Coffee in Nob Hill and one at Heart & Sole Sports on San Mateo. The deadline to take a tag and return gifts is the 17th.
When returning gifts, Armijo asked that folks don’t wrap them in paper. Bring them back in a gift bag so team members can ensure each child gets what they need before sending them off.
Here’s how the Giving Trees work:
Heart and Sole Sports is a financial underwriter for KUNM, but has no input in our editorial content.
Arlene Espinoza-Armijo is the development director of the University of New Mexico’s Comprehensive Cancer Center. She heads multiple community organizations, one being the Dukes Track Club. This is where she saw the initial need for the community to come together for a big cause.
“Right now, there are really important benefits that are being cut from a lot of people who don't always have the privilege and the luxury of being able to speak up for themselves– I felt like if there's a way for me to support, rally around individuals in my community, this is the way,” Armijo said.
She made a few calls to partners who support the Dukes Track Club and started her own Giving Tree project.
Michael Thomas Coffee often works with the community, and provided a list of schools to Armijo with children in need. She called the schools and each said yes.
“The schools told me that the community partners they’ve had in the past who worked on this type of thing have all said that they can’t partner with them this year, so they had a tremendous need,” Armijo said.
Inside Heart and Sole Sports on San Mateo, tags with a child's age, gender, shoe and clothing size, and small wishlist hang from a Christmas tree as part of Arlene Espinoza-Armijo's Giving Tree initiative. (3024x4032, AR: 0.75)
The idea is to assign a tag to each child in need, put them on a tree, and community members can pick up as many tags as they wish to provide gifts for these kids.
“These are children who are forming their ideals and their opinions of the world right now and if there is one thing that I can hope that this act of kindness imparts on them is that there are people in the community that care about them,” Armijo said.
There are 130 tags representing students from four different schools. Whittier and Hawthorn Elementary Schools, Wilson Middle School , and Highland High School.
Tags are spread between two trees in town, one at Michael Thomas Coffee in Nob Hill and one at Heart & Sole Sports on San Mateo. The deadline to take a tag and return gifts is the 17th.
When returning gifts, Armijo asked that folks don’t wrap them in paper. Bring them back in a gift bag so team members can ensure each child gets what they need before sending them off.
Here’s how the Giving Trees work:
- Visit Michael Thomas Coffee or Heart & Sole Sports
- Choose a tag from the Giving Tree
- Scan the QR code & register as the child’s Holiday Helper (QR code located by each giving tree)
- Shop for their items
- Return all gifts (in a gift bag, labeled with the child’s ID code) to the same location you got the tag from
Heart and Sole Sports is a financial underwriter for KUNM, but has no input in our editorial content.