Wanted: Big hearts to help children in need this Christmas.

Volunteers are needed to sponsor children whose mothers are incarcerated at the Birmingham Community Based Facility, medium security prison with a work release program in north Birmingham.

Sharon Denham of Gardendale, coordinator of the facility’s Angel Tree program this year, pointed out that inmates’ children are not the ones serving time and they should not be punished by possibly having nothing under the Christmas tree.

The Angel Tree program, started in 1982 by former inmate Mary Kay Beard, makes a way for volunteers to minister to children and to their parents who are incarcerated, said Denham, who is also coordinator for the Women’s Prison Ministry at Gardendale First Baptist Church.

Of 170 children on the list this year, Denham said there are still 50 who need to be “adopted” for Christmas.

The spending limit is $50 per child. Some families have multiple children — two have six children each. Denham asks that churches, civic groups, organizations or other groups sponsor families with multiple children, in order to ensure that all of the children are treated the same.

She also has lists with only one child or with two children, for individuals who can not sponsor a large number of children.

“This can be for anybody who is looking for a Christmas project,” Denham said. “It’s a good way to show love to a child and a parent.”

The original plan of the Angel Tree program was for sponsors to take gifts directly to the children and spend time with them.

However, now it is fairly common for sponsors to send packages in the mail or even to send gift cards, Denham said.

Of the 170 children in the program this year, only 10 live in the Birmingham area, while most live in other parts of Alabama and about eight live in other states.

To sponsor a child or to learn more about the Angel Tree program, call Denham at (205) 902-8437 or email her at oaklife@bellsouth.net.