What are angel trees? The holiday tradition has gone viral this year.

The holidays are a popular time for giving. Some enjoy passing out presents while others choose to volunteer, but this year, a social media trend encourages people to do a mix of both.

People are flocking to Walmart and other stores to participate in The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program, a longstanding annual tradition that helps gift Christmas presents to children and senior adults across the United States and Canada. The program has gone viral on social media this year, leading to a spike in participation compared to previous years.

While holiday celebrations are creeping closer and some Angel Tree deadlines have passed, you can still get involved. Here’s what to know about the program and its viral spike in popularity this year.

What is the Angel Tree program?

The Angel Tree program is held every year to help provide gifts to eligible children and senior adults during the holiday season.

According to The Salvation Army’s website, children or senior adults are registered into the program and then are accepted as an angel. They create a wish list shared with local donors, who then purchase new clothing and toys for the angels. The gifts are then distributed to the family to place under their tree.

On the donor end, people can visit local stores to pick out “angels” to shop for. The wish lists of those registered angels are put on slips of paper, or tags, that are attached to Christmas trees at the front of the store and available for people to take as needed.

Many of this year's donation tags have been at Walmart locations in partnership with the organization. After picking a tag, people can read the angel’s wish list, buy items from it and drop them off for donation in a collection bin at the store or at a Salvation Army location.

Salvation Army, Walmart see spikes in Angel Tree participation

Dale Bannon, the national community relations and development secretary at The Salvation Army, said in a recent statement to USA TODAY that "interest is surging to unprecedented levels."

“Online momentum is remarkable. According to data we received from TikTok, posts using #angeltree are up more than 875% this holiday season compared to the same period in 2024,” Bannon said. “Search behavior reflects the same spike – ‘Angel Tree Shopping’ generated over 520,000 searches in the past 30 days, a nearly 4,000% increase over last year, and searches for ‘Angel Tree’ exceeded 450,000, up more than 5,600%.”

The increase comes as social media users have taken to platforms like TikTok to share their experiences with Angel Tree shopping. The vlog-style of filming has generated thousands of likes for users, and “this digital enthusiasm is translating into real-world generosity,” Bannon said.

As some Salvation Army centers see an increase in requests for gift assistance, locations are also seeing double the demand to adopt an angel this year compared to previous years.

Walmart told USA TODAY that its data shows a 120% increase in mentions of Angel Tree on social media compared with 2024. TikTok, in particular, has seen a surge in interest, with the #AngelTree hashtag being used over 40,000 times. For “Walmart + Angel Tree,” the company has seen a nearly 150% year-over-year increase.

“In Chickasha, Oklahoma, demand has been so high that Walmart added a second Angel Tree, and staff are restocking tags almost daily,” Salvation Army’s Bannon said. “We’re also hearing about a noticeable uptick not only in the number of gifts, but in the quality of the items being given.”

Angel Trees rise in popularity on social media

On social media platforms like TikTok, Angel Tree videos have thousands of likes and comments, with some even saying they were inspired to join the program after watching previous donation videos.

One user on TikTok started her video by saying, “Shoutout to everybody who’s doing this on TikTok because I had no idea that this was a thing.” The idea has seemed to resonate with others who are choosing to donate.

Others have been inspired to go back multiple times or travel from store to store, searching for trees that still had angel wish lists on them.

That was the case for another TikToker, Serena Neel, who visited stores multiple times this holiday season to pick up gifts for children, senior adults, and dogs.

"It's been really fun. I don't have kids of my own, so I've never really spent much time shopping for kids' clothes and kids' toys," Neel told USA TODAY on Wednesday. "And I found a lot of joy this holiday season sponsoring other kids and being able to kind of bring the Christmas magic that kids bring to the holidays into my life without having kids."

Neel told USA TODAY that she’s been able to sponsor 47 children this holiday season through the program, which has allowed her to gift everything from an emotional support animal to basic necessities like hygiene products.

It’s been “amazing” and “humbling” to see all of the awareness social media has brought to the program and to be involved with it, she said.

“I’m just really happy to be a part of the program in general and be able to do what I can personally and then being a piece of the voice on social media that’s spreading awareness for this program just makes me really happy,” Neel added.

How can I get involved?

While the donation deadline passed earlier this month, some Salvation Army locations are still seeking volunteers to help sort, label and distribute Angel Tree donations, the organization told USA TODAY.

“If you’d still like to make a contribution, go online to SalvationArmyUSA.org to make a financial donation that helps your neighbors in need with other holiday support, like providing a holiday meal or helping someone pay their rent or utility bill,” Bannon said in a statement.

Neel echoed this idea, adding that people who want to get involved next year but might be worried about fronting the cost of an angel can still help their communities by sharing the experience with others.

“I would just recommend doing tags, either splitting costs with your friends or purchasing toys within a budget that you’d like to stick to and finding a local toy drive at your local grocery store or your local gym where you can just drop a few toys in a box,” Neel said. “There’s a lot of ways that you can give back during the holidays.”

Kate Perez covers national trends and breaking news for USA TODAY. You can reach her at kperez@usatodayco.com or on Twitter @katecperez_.