I came to the Gilman Contemporary gallery Monday morning to find that our Giving Tree outside had been stolen Sunday night. I stood there in disbelief looking at ornaments strewn across the sidewalk, along with two gift tags for children—one who needs a pair of shoes and the other who needs a sweater.
I had such mixed emotions—anger, disappointment and then sadness. The tree itself is not important. It was the spirit behind the gifts our community was trying to fill for people in need. I can only assume that the thief must have desperately needed that tree. It is the only thing I can think of to make sense of this. To those of you who so generously took tags to give gifts to these families, we thank you.
L'Anne Gilman
Hailey