Time is runnig out to select a needy child’s name from the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree at BankTrust in Demopolis. Linda Blair and Monica Cox, employees at the bank who are co-chairing the charity, say the deadline is Dec. 16.

BankTrust has served as an Angel Tree site for the Salvation Army for several years and according to Blair, there were 24 names on the bank’s tree this year, including first names, ages, sizes and their gift wish list. Salvation Army representative Joyce Baty said the children whose names are on the Angel Tree tags are truly needy and have had their profiles on the list for Christmas gifts since the first of October.

As the deadline gets closer, Blair said she becomes nervous if there is even one name left. “The bank employees will ususally take some of these,” she said. “Anything these children get is appreciated. Some even ask for coats or shoes.”

Many local people know the bank takes on this project each year, Blair said, “and they come on in asking for a child and sometimes even siblings in the same family. Forty or $50 will buy a whole lot of things that will make these children’s Christmas.”

Baty said the people who adopt these children for Christmas have been very generous over the years. “What they get from the Angel tree in most cases will be all these children get for Christmas. The Salvation Army will make the distribution on Dec. 19 after toys and gifts are collected from BankTrust on Dec. 16.