By CAROLINE CARMICHAEL / Staff Writer

The deadline is closing in for gift card donations benefitting three West End families for Christmas.

The West End community Facebook group “U Know U R From The Heart of West End (‘WE’) When…” is hosting the virtual Angel Giving Tree, collecting items until Dec. 16, for a Dec. 18 distribution to the families.

“We’re doing gift cards,” administrator Debra Fambro-Tinsley said, “because nobody has time to go out and buy specific gifts.”

Other gift items can be donated as well.

Fambro-Tinsley designed an angel giving tree graphic for the page, which depicts several angels and ornaments representing various donations as they are collected.

So far, several gift cards, children’s bikes and custom-made blankets for each child have been collected.

The group, or WE, hopes to collect enough bikes to present one to each child.

The following are the children’s ages:

• Boys: One 2-year-old
• Girls: One 12-year-old, two 6-year-olds and two 6-month-olds

The nearly 1,000-member-strong Facebook group was founded in August 2011 and aims to foster community in West End.

Fambro-Tinsley said WE chooses an event each year to impact the West End community.

This year’s event is a reminder of “The Reason for the Season” and aims to “put a positive spin to the West End area,” Fambro-Tinsley said.

“Especially during the season of giving and the season of love and sharing, we just want to make sure we are highlighting something positive and doing something positive,” she said.

Fambro-Tinsley thanks each WE administrator and donor to the Christmas cause.

Donations can be made by contacting Fambro-Tinsley by email at trell6780@att.net, via Facebook messaging or by contacting any other WE admin.

According to Fambro-Tinsley, “Our hope and prayer are that all families and friends in and surrounding the WE community have happiness and joy throughout this holiday season.”