Couple seeks to brighten youth's Christmas through annual program: 'We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the help of the community through The Salvation Army'

A beautifully decorated tree, multi-colored lights and Santa Claus are constants around Christmastime – and so are The Salvation Army. 

Pasadena couple Dante and Tiffany Salgado recall Christmases as youth in which the faith-based organization made their holidays brighter through its Angel Tree Program, and now, they want to do the same for others, according to a report from Houston CBS affiliate KHOU.

Per KHOU, the Salgados serve as co-officers in the Pasadena Salvation Army, and it was the call to serve their fellow human beings that brought them together. 

"We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the help of the community through the Salvation Army,” Dante Salgado said, the station reported.

The Salvation Army said on its website that the program gives “hundreds and thousands” of children the opportunity to “experience the joy of Christmas morning.” 

The “angel” is a child or senior adult registered and accepted into the program whose Christmas wish list is shared with donors in the local community, the organization said. 

Gifts that are usually purchased are toys and clothing, which make their way to the sponsored child’s family to place under their tree.

According to KHOU, the generosity of The Salvation Army brought smiles to the Salgados when they were children, to which Dante Salgado said is a feeling worth replicating with today’s kids. 

As the only boy in his immediate family, he fondly reminisced about he and his sisters being part of the Angel Tree Program. 

“I have two older sisters, (and) a twin sister, and so we looked forward to those gifts every year,” Dante Salgado told the station. “We didn't care where it came from." 

KHOU reported that the couple met at a Salvation Army camp as teenagers. 

They would learn that they had a lot in common, leading them to their present-day marriage.