A day after the deadline for community members to drop of their donation of toys, clothes and cash, the Salvation Army appears to have pulled in enough of every category to ensure a merry Christmas for every child participating in this year’s Angel Tree program.

Major Steve Welch with the Salvation Army said that community members had selected all but 40 of the 590 names originally on the tree when the program began just weeks ago.

“It went really well,” Welch said. “We had some gift cards donated from JCPenney and Target and so we were able to cover the remaining Angels with that. This makes sure each child gets something this Christmas.”

Welch said several people had dropped off bags of toys Tuesday while volunteers were busy organizing the toys and clothes in preparation for Thursday’s distribution day at the Old National Guard Armory on Dallas Avenue.

“We’ve got all the donations all lined up,” Welch said. “And we are checking all of the bags to be sure they are pretty equal.”

Welch said that on Thursday, 10 parents will show up at the armory every 15 minutes to pick up the presents for their children, and he made one final request of the parents in hopes that they could keep the Christmas spirit alive.

“We ask that the kids don’t come out so they can believe it comes from Santa,” Welch said.