PENDLETON — Despite the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, The Giving Tree at Hamley Western Store in Pendleton saw every tag plucked from its branches this year.

The giving tree, in its 20th year, is a collaboration between local elementary schools, the Pendleton Early Learning Center, the Umatilla County Care Program and the Department of Human Services. The groups submit referrals, or “wish lists” to the tree, and after community participants take those referrals and gather the gifts, the gifts are provided to at-risk children and their families.

“Every request is hopefully going to be filled this year,” said Heidi Zeigler, from Umatilla County Health and Human Services, who has worked with the giving tree for about 12 years.

In total, 90 children under welfare jurisdiction, 64 in the self-sufficiency program and 30 families will receive gifts this year, Zeigler said. The Pendleton Round-Up and Happy Canyon association gathered the last of the tags last week.

Because DHS staff cannot meet with clients in-person due to the pandemic, obtaining referrals was more difficult this year, Zeigler said. However, Zeigler was pleasantly surprised to see the community come out and support families in need.

“People are already feeling the financial burden because of the pandemic, and that they wouldn’t be able to support taking a tag and purchasing gifts,” she said. “But I think we found that it’s just the opposite.”

Zeigler also supports a giving tree in Milton-Freewater, and on Monday, Dec. 14, at around 9 a.m., there were 60 tags remaining. Zeigler and her colleagues posted on social media and sent emails out to the community to encourage people to come down and take the tags. About two hours later, all the tags were gone, she said.

“People were just coming in left and right,” she said, adding that 28 of the tags were taken by staff members from Pendleton. “I thought that was awesome that the staff stepped up. They just saw a need and they helped fill it.”

One staff member took 10 tags for her Bible study, and another took eight for her sibling group, she said.

In the past two years, Wildhorse Resort & Casino have sponsored the tree, providing participants with raffle tickets which are placed in a drawing for passes to the resort’s Family FunPlex. Hamley Western Store also offered people discounts if they took a tag, Zeigler said.

“It’s important, but it’s just something we have to do to help our families out,” Zeigler said.