Angel Tree Gift That Keeps On Giving

Growing up in Cumberland, Maryland, little Aaron Abram dreamt of someday seeing the world. He thought he might be able to do this by excelling in basketball, his favorite sport. And although it did not play out the way he envisioned as a child, Aaron did achieve his goal of leaving Cumberland and entering a well-traveled and satisfying life. And all that became possible because of The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program when during one magical Christmas season, Aaron received the gift he longed for most — a basketball.

“Every summer my brother and I bounced around churches all over Cumberland, attending Vacation Bible Schools that worked for mom as sort of a de facto day care arrangement,” Aaron explains. The boys also attended summer camps provided by several churches, and one of those weeks every summer was at The Salvation Army’s Camp Tomahawk for music conservatory. He later served on Camp Tomahawk staff for five years as a dishwasher, counselor, healthcare provider, and as head male counselor his final summer.

At the tender age of ten, at a Baptist camp, Aaron gave his heart to Jesus. Around that same time, he felt God’s call on his life to serve as a pastor. As his involvement in the Cumberland Corps and the Maryland-West Virginia Division (now Potomac) deepened, he felt his calling naturally shift from one day being a Baptist pastor to becoming a Salvation Army officer.

Today, Aaron holds the rank of major. He proudly points back to that Yuletide when his dearest Christmas wish came true as a seminal moment.

Major Aaron recalls, “We grew up in a single- parent household on public assistance, but I have to give a lot of credit to my grandparents who helped raise me.”

His “Pap” made sure the boys got to where they needed to be, like doctor’s appointments and school activities. His grandma worked in a hotel kitchen, and together she and Pap saved up their pocket change to buy him shoes when he needed them. Little Aaron stayed at their house every weekend, and he lauds his Pap for being the one who taught him what it meant to be a man.

“It was a few weeks after my twelfth Christmas when I received that basketball, and I was also coming to understand how Christmas gifts really work,” Major Aaron explains. “I knew that there was no way my mom could afford to buy my brother and me the gifts we had gotten. So, I asked her where the gifts came from, and she told me she had been signing us up for the Angel Tree at The Salvation Army for the past few years.

“I was already working towards being on the team by that point.” The team Major Aaron refers to is the basketball team the Cumberland Corps sponsored as part of a citywide Sunday School league. The only requirement for team membership was that each player attend at least three Sunday School sessions every month, though not necessarily at The Salvation Army. “But that’s where I attended because by that time I was getting pretty involved in the corps.”

“I didn’t make my school team, but I felt so welcome at The Salvation Army that I decided to play for them. My coach was (now Major) Cam Henderson.” His corps officers at the time were Majors Robert and Georgia Henderson. Teenage Aaron was considered an honorary member of the Henderson family, and in addition to away games in the league, he began to find many opportunities to travel beyond the Cumberland city limits.

“I had also taken up trombone in my school band, and when the Hendersons found out, I quickly took my place in the Cumberland Corps Band. I also joined the Divisional Youth Band (DYB). Our trips included New York City to play at a ‘Friday Night at the Temple’ event, attending TMI (Territorial Music Institute) twice, marching in the Rose Bowl Parade, and visiting Star Lake Camp,” in the Eastern Territory.

The DYB also ministered through several overseas mission trips, just the beginning of Major Aaron’s achieving his dream to see the world.

In 2005, he met Cadet Rebekah Gilmore at the Evangeline Booth College. The two were both single cadets and members of the Heralds of Good News session. They fell in love, married, and initially served as corps helpers in Montgomery, Alabama, and Hagerstown, Maryland. The couple returned to the Training College in 2008 as members of the Prayer Warriors session, were commissioned in June 2010 as lieutenants, and received their first appointment as corps officers at Baltimore Temple.

Major Aaron (a self-proclaimed introvert) and Major Rebekah (admittedly an extrovert) make an excellent team as corps officers and all that entails.

“Seeing officership from this side of training is certainly eye-opening,” Major Aaron admits. “There is so much more involved than being a pastor alone. But it’s very fulfilling, and each day confirms God’s plan for me and my family.” The Abrams are joined in their ministry by their three children.

Confirmations of Major Aaron’s calling are strong each Angel Tree season. Although he is responsible for the annual Red Kettle Drive while Major Rebekah heads the Angel Tree program, Major Aaron purposely involves himself in the application process, in collecting gifts, and in sorting presents in the corps gym.

“The payoff is distribution week in December,” Major Aaron beams. “I love talking to the parents. We purposely have distribution on weekdays while the kids are in school, so they can be totally surprised on Christmas morning.”

Major Aaron’s Christmas joy is rooted in the fact that he once was one such child receiving wished-for toys and clothes for school. He knows firsthand that struggling families may not be able to afford such Yuletide festivity.

The life-changing gift of a basketball continues to provide dividends, blessing thousands of other deserving children over the years.

Perhaps someday in Heaven, the gracefilled donor who spent a few bucks on a simple basketball will realize all the good they began simply by claiming an Angel Tree tag that year. A gift that just keeps on giving.