By Gretchen Keiser

An ornament tree has proved to be a connection of love between hundreds of children in DeKalb and Fulton counties and the parishioners of Immaculate Heart of Mary church.

In early Advent, a Christmas tree, decorated with paper ornaments, went up in the front of the church. After each Mass people made their way to the front and, ornament by ornament, the tree was stripped of its decorations. Families and individual parishioners in the Northeast Atlanta parish went home with the ornaments, which described a child by age and suggested a particular type of present, like clothing or a toy. The children whose needs were described on the tree's paper trimmings were a part of the DeKalb and Fulton County Secret Santa program -- children in foster homes who might not otherwise get a special gift at Christmas.

On the Third Sunday of Advent, the ornaments came back, as part of the wrappings atop boxes and packages from parishioners who had picked out presents according to the needs described. Some 700 ornaments were on the tree originally and by the late afternoon of the 12^th of December, there were hundreds of presents under the tree, some tied up tightly and others allowing a glimpse of tissue-wrapped dolls, sweaters, mittens and other gifts.

The entire project, which blossomed from a smaller version of the same idea last year, was the work of Action, the parish youth group.

Kathy de Rosay, who works with Action on social action projects, says she felt "like a grandmother" watching people at IHM rush up to the front and take home ornaments a few weeks ago. Last year the youth group prepared 150 to 200 ornaments and "by the time of 10 o'clock Mass, they were all gone," she said. This year four times as many ornaments were prepared.

Action, made up of parish teens, organizes the project with the county agencies, hangs the tree ornaments and helps to load up the presents into cars and trucks on Dec. 12. The ornaments were made by students in kindergarten through second grade at IHM School. The parish St. Vincent de Paul Society delivers the presents to agencies which will distribute them to children.

This year the gifts especially were concentrated upon older children in their teens, who might not be reached by many other Christmas-giving programs.