Three-year-old Ali and her twin brother Xavier keep close to their great-grandmother in the tiny kitchen of their Franklin Township home, braving occasional curious glances at the brightly wrapped gifts a stranger had lugged in.

Vicki Benack, whose husband Jeremy is pastor of Grace Community Church in Lansford, has brought the presents under the auspices of the Angel Tree program, which delivers Christmas gifts from jailed parents to their children in an effort to keep family bonds strong."We as a church love doing this," Benack says. "It's not the children's' fault their parent is in prison."After chatting with the twins for a few minutes about preschool and their baby sister Gianna, Benack asks their mother, Kayla Ahner, if she wants them to open their gifts now, or wait until Christmas morning.Looking at her children's' eager faces, Ahner tells them they may have the gifts now.Ali shyly begins pulling white tissue paper out of a bag. She smiles with delight as she reaches in to lift out a gift wrapped glittery purse. She opens it to find coins, her eyes big with wonder. Next comes a fancy hair clip, a coloring book, and a pretty little tea set.As Ali shows her mother her gifts, Xavier reaches into his bag, and struggles to pull out a big box, wrapped in cheery paper. Holding the box above his head, he turns around and around in excitement. Then, kneeling on the floor in the midst of torn paper, gift bags and his family, he tears open the wrap to reveal a set of toy cars and trucks.Ahner holds little Gianna, who will turn 7 months old in a few days, encouraging the baby to help open her gifts: a soft blanket, a pink teddy bear and a toy telephone.Ahner gently prods her children to thank Benack."It was very nice," she says. "We really appreciate this."Grace Community has been participating in Angel Tree for several years. This year, the church provided gifts for 13 children in Carbon County.Angel Tree is handled by Prison Fellowship, based in Virginia. The program, which operates nationally, endeavors to help children of jailed parents feel their mothers or fathers love through Christmas gifts, which come with a personal message from parent to child.Angel Tree also offers a summer camp program, and "promotes family reconciliation through discipleship and mentoring," its website says.Churches register for the program, and inmates sign up their children with Angel Tree coordinators, who give the names to the church. the name tags and gift suggestions are displayed in the church, and members are invited to select names. They then buy, wrap and deliver gifts on the jailed parent's behalf, sharing the Gospel as they do.