KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A garden of decorated, 3-foot-tall Christmas trees filled a room at the East Tennessee Children's Hospital Monday, as people donated small trees for an annual program meant to make the holiday season bright for patients.
As part of the TinyTrees program, people spend weeks decorating small Christmas trees. There are guidelines for the trees — people can't use tree skirts, give candy, include sharp objects or include either political or religious tracks. The program encourages people to decorate the trees with kid-friendly themes like superheroes, unicorns or cars.
On Monday, organizers collected those trees at the hospital's South Tower. While they said they would not accept gift trees, people could attach fewer than five toys per tree as long as it was relevant to the decorations. Some people attached dolls, stuffed animals and other kinds of small toys for children in the hospital.
The trees will be given to patients at the hospital, meant to help bring some holiday cheer while they undergo treatment for different ailments. In 2023, the hospital delivered around 1,500 tiny trees to patients.
