Many residents of Spanish Town, look forward to entertainer D’Angel’s annual Christmas treat to realise just a bit of the season of giving.

Held at Spanish Town Municipal Park on Monday, the artiste, through her Spread A Little Love Foundation, handed out some 500 gift bags. In them were all the items needed to prepare a meal on Christmas Day.

Smiles plastered across their faces, the beneficiaries heaped praises on the dancehall artiste for her philanthropic efforts, dubbing her blessed for remembering the less fortunate during the festive season.

Speaking with the Jamaica Observer, an overjoyed Gloria Robinson expressed gratitude.

“May God bless and keep his daughter, because without her I don’t know how my Christmas would be merry,” she said revealing that, on December 25, she would be celebrating her 75th birthday. “I am so happy, because I can cook myself something nice for my birthday. I thank her very much for what she is doing.”

Another woman, who identified herself as Melisha, said she is a mother of two who was doing business at the municipal office when she saw the crowd. She expressed that, after finding out the reason for the gathering, she felt like her prayers had been answered and immediately joined the line.

“If I don’t get anything else, I have food now,” she said. “I actually came to do something at the parish council office and I heard what was happening and said to myself, ‘Why not join the line?’ And I am so happy I did. This is such a wonderful thing seeing that she is from here and giving back to her people, that’s so good of her.”

A visibly tired D’Angel told the Observer that, while the treat takes a huge amount of effort to host annually, seeing the smiles on the faces of her people is “priceless”.

“This year was very tedious for me because I started a bit late because of my obligations with my shows and schedule. I had to decide to zero-in and focus on the charity, and so I came in from shows and went into charity mode. Sleepless night, e-mail, drafting letters for sponsorship, making phone calls; it was a whole lot of work,” she said. “This was the first year that it actually took a toll on my body to get this together. But I am happy for the support. Eventually we pulled it off, because I have an amazing set of people who didn’t hesitate to jump on board.

“I want to give thanks to Chris Gayle, Shane’s Supermarket in Spanish Town, who if it wasn’t for him this would not have happened. Shane gave me a huge amount of the supplies we handed out today and so hats off to him,” she said. “Sanmerna Paper Products for providing tissues, etc… to Cal’s for the syrup and stuff. I really appreciate you guys so much.”

D’Angel expressed that it has become increasingly difficult to maintain her three give-back initiatives throughout the year as donations dwindle. She expressed that in order to ensure her charity work continues she may have to zero in on just her Christmas give-back in the future. She used the opportunity to encourage her fellow colleagues to activate their philanthropic spirit and expressed that if they are unable to host treats of their own to support the efforts of their colleagues.

“To give back takes a lot of time and resources; it is something you have to be called to do. So if you’re not called to do it yourself, I would love the support. Let me do it for you. It would help me to do more so pour into my charity and let us do more of Jamaica.”