Angel Tree Causes Chaos on TikTok: Parents Upset After Receiving Gifts Not on Their Kid's Wish List

A program meant to provide children from low-income families with gifts on Christmas is igniting debate on social media, with some donors defending why they're not buying the exact gifts requested by the recipients — and some recipients slamming the gifts they ended up with.

The Angel Tree Program is facilitated by The Salvation Army and helps provide Christmas gifts for children around the country. The program works by allowing donors to select tags with children's wish lists displayed on trees at participating stores or businesses. Once donors select their tag, they can then purchase the listed gifts and return them to a designated drop-off point.

Dozens of influencers have gone viral sharing their Angel Tree hauls but others, like TikTok user @shayshayjay, have ignited controversy by not buying the exact items their recipients asked for.

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In one video, the TikTok user shares that she didn't buy the $150 backpack her recipient requested because it wouldn't have shipped to them on time.

"I want to address people in my comment section that are not happy with the gifts I got for my Angel Tree kiddo," she says in the video, adding, "Timing was an issue here. I wouldn't have had time to ship the backpack she was asking for."

She adds that commenters were also upset with a gift she did purchase — a Stanley cup.

"Some of you have a real issue with the Stanley I got her," she adds in the video, explaining that she got her recipient a smaller-sized cup than the one commenters said she should have purchased.

"Does it hold as much water? No, but it's so much more practical," she says. "I have the other Stanley. It's so big, it's hard to carry around and when I would take it to work, it would literally tip over in my purse and flood my laptop. So, I'm just thinking in my head, a 10-year-old girl, she doesn't want that, that's going to be spilling all over her book bag, ruining her homework. Let me get one that's safe and secure."

She adds that Angel Tree donors aren't told specifics about their recipients — "I don't know her style, I don't know her favorite color" — so she did the best she could.

"I've worked in nonprofit for my entire career ... now I have a corporate job, and this was the first year I was ever able to do an Angel Tree and afford it and do it on my own and give back," she says, adding, "Hopefully this motivates everyone to also go out, and do an Angel Tree kiddo."

Some Angel Tree recipients are also going viral — including one who shared her "frustrating haul."

"I'm not totally ungrateful," the TikTok user shared while showing the gifts — which included a selection of items including Play-Doh, shoes and a basketball. "I'm a little frustrated, though. Trying not to cry."

The original user has since made their account private following the backlash, but follow-up videos about the Angel Tree recipient's post note that the clothes she'd received weren't the sizes she'd requested for her kids, and many of the items weren't on their wish list.

Another Angel Tree recipient said that her 16-year-old daughter was gifted "used" presents including a lunch box, scarf and beanie saying, "If you can't afford to buy a gift, please don't pick a name off the angel tree, because now, I don't know what I'm going to do for my kid."

In another video, TikTok user @thesandravshow defended the moms who have been critical of their Angel Tree gifts, saying, "What a lot of people do is they go to the Dollar Tree or somewhere and they get the gifts there. I'm not saying Christmas is all about big gifts or whatever but if there's one place a mom who is struggling will take their child to pick out their own toys, it's going to be the Dollar Tree. ... There are only so many options at the Dollar Tree, so the kids that you're buying for probably already picked out the stuff they like and they have it."

But other TikTokers are criticizing the recipients who don't like their gifts, with one saying, "Those people don't owe you a damn thing. They bought your children stuff for Christmas out of the kindness of their hearts."

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Another video shared on TikTok shows how volunteers often add to Angel Tree donations, ensuring that if a child was only gifted clothing, for instance, they can get a couple of toys, too. "That's what we do to complete a bag that has been returned but needs a few more toys to make it really complete at Christmas."

It's not all controversial, however. One recipient took to TikTok to share how "grateful" she was that her donor gifted her clothing that her 11-month baby could grow into.

"You don't know how much I appreciate that," TikTok user @cassbenelliesgarden says through tears in her video.

In the caption to the video, she wrote: "I have never been more grateful in my life, this is the first year my family needed the Angel Tree and I hope one day I can return this favor to another family."

TikTok user @katrinahartley8 said in a video sharing her gifts that she was "extremely grateful" for the gifts her son was given via Angel Tree.

"He wouldn't have much under the tree [without Angel Tree]," she says. "I know it's not about gifts but also teaching him what the day actually means."

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