Adopt an Angel: ADOT employees give back to colleagues and the community

With the holidays upon us, ADOT employees are among those giving back in the spirit of the season. One example is Motor Vehicle Division team members collecting toys and food through a program known as Community Connections. Another is an annual tradition that makes sure every child within our ADOT family has gifts to enjoy: the Salvation Army’s Corporate Christmas Angel program.

Thanks to the incredible generosity of our employees, the Adopt an Angel program helped 43 ADOT families this holiday season and fulfilled more than 200 wishes. The Salvation Army provided lists of gifts that the children asked for, and our staff got to work, donating presents by the armful. All of the gifts were wrapped by our staff and delivered to families in time for holiday festivities. 

ADOT’s Kim Phillips, who helped organize this year’s Adopt An Angel event as a member of our Employee Engagement and Recognition team, extended her thanks to every employee who donated, saying one mother shed tears of joy when she picked up her children’s presents.

Among the gifts: a blanket handmade by a small band of fiber artists who decided months earlier to create a blanket that would be given to an adopted family. The result is a colorful collection of crocheted squares, woven together piece by piece, shown above. 

“The blanket reflects the diversity of our team,” said Morgan Henling, a Motor Vehicle Division Customer Service Supervisor who created several of the patchwork squares. “From the hands of a novice to those of an expert, each square has its own story and skill level. It’s profoundly heartwarming knowing this collaborative creation will warm someone who needs it and they will appreciate the collective effort infused into every stitch.”

ADOT strives to make Arizona a better place by maintaining our state’s highway system, but we know there’s more to giving back than encouraging safe driving habits or helping you get Travel IDs. We want every family to experience the joys of the holiday season, and we’re proud of the role we play in enriching the broader community and our ADOT family.