Secret elf plans for the future of the Angel Tree Program

Carleen Wild, Enterprise staff
Posted 1/1/25

This holiday season, Jeri Sabie experienced an outpouring of generosity like no other in her 38 years as the secret elf behind Interlakes Community Action Partnership’s (ICAP’s) giving …

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Secret elf plans for the future of the Angel Tree Program

Posted

This holiday season, Jeri Sabie experienced an outpouring of generosity like no other in her 38 years as the secret elf behind Interlakes Community Action Partnership’s (ICAP’s) giving trees.
“I just can’t believe how giving the community has been,” she said.
The broader Moody County community provided nearly 160 gifts for children in the area, dozens more than years past.
Sabie, in her nearly four decades of involvement, said she can’t recall a time with so many families in need.
Reflecting on how rewarding the experience has been — bringing joy to children year after year, she is now calling on someone with a heart as big as the community’s to step in and take over.

She is ready to retire.
Sabie helped kickstart the Angel Tree project in 1986 as part of a Jayceettes project. She stepped away for a few years while others ensured its continuation. Now, she prays for someone with a loving heart for young children to carry the tradition forward well into the future.
“The joy of these kids getting an extra gift under the tree — little kids — they just deserve an extra gift,” Sabie said.
“We’ve never had a kid go without that gift.”
What it would entail: The program works with the Interlakes Community Action Partnership to collect gift wishes from area families in need. Their wishes are written on angel cards and placed at First Savings Bank and First National Bank in Flandreau ahead of each holiday season, where members of the community can fulfill them.
Once the requested gifts are wrapped and returned, the “elf” gathers the gifts, delivers them to the local ICAP office, and helps distribute them on a given day.
Parents apply to have their children’s names registered through the ICAP office.
“Year after year, this community’s generosity amazes me,” Sabie said.
“I know their support will continue to bring smiles to children long after I step away.”
For more information on how to get involved, contact the local ICAP office at (605) 997-2824 or Sabie at (605) 941-7303.