In Santa’s workshop at Northwest ISD, Terri Trainer spends December surrounded by almost 2,000 paper bags.
Each bag represents a student whose family filled out wish lists for the district’s Angel Tree program. Trainer and other volunteers open, sort and repack them, making sure siblings in the same family have gifts that feel fair.
“We have to go through every donation. We have to check the inventory and make sure it’s appropriate, you know, then package it up!” Trainer said.
Trainer is a stay-at-home mom in Trophy Club and, by her own description, a full-time Northwest ISD volunteer. She has helped with the Angel Tree almost every year since her family joined the district in 2020. Her service led to her nomination for 52 Faces of Community, the Fort Worth Report’s weekly series spotlighting unsung heroes.
“I have a heart for the teachers and the educators and so whatever I can do to support them in supporting our kids is my passion,” Trainer said.
Welcome to 52 Faces
52 Faces of Community is a Fort Worth Report weekly series spotlighting local unsung heroes. It is sponsored by Central Market, H-E-B and JPS Health Network.
At the end of the year, these rarely recognized heroes will gather for a luncheon where the Report will announce one honoree to represent Tarrant County at the Jefferson Awards in Washington, D.C.
While the Angel Tree may just be an abstract act of charity to most, it’s personal for Trainer. She was once one of those “angels” herself — a student whose Christmas depended on the generosity of others. She has never forgotten the feeling of a donated gift arriving at her home.
She still remembers her parents’ faces.
“I don’t know that we would have had a Christmas at all had it not been for the family that stepped up,” she said.
Now, Trainer ensures other families don’t face that same empty holiday.
The Angel Tree is open to about 7,000 Northwest ISD students who qualify for the state’s free and reduced lunch program. Just under 2,000 turned in paperwork to receive gifts this year. Adults fill out questionnaires with clothing sizes, ages, interests and hobbies. Community members and companies can go online, adopt one or more “angels,” shop and return the gifts.
But about 10% of those angels never receive gifts.
That’s when Trainer and other volunteers step in. They sort donations, flag missing items and spend a day at Target filling carts with toys and clothes based on each child’s wish list.
Her volunteering stretches far beyond the holidays.
At Samuel Beck Elementary and Medlin Middle School, where her son attended, Trainer estimates she logged between 600 and 800 volunteer hours each school year.
“All I was doing was supporting the teachers, loving on the teachers so that they could then love on our kids,” she said.
Sometimes, that looks simple: Coffee, copies or decorations.
“Whatever. To just kind of give them that little, ‘OK, somebody does see me. They understand,’” Trainer said.
Trainer now spends much of her time with the district’s education foundation and its teacher supply store, where staff can pick up classroom materials for free. She’s part of a “sparkle squad” that cleans and organizes the store so teachers have a pleasant place to shop.
That kind of support is especially important as districts face budget constraints, she said.
“The district had to cut things like custodial services, so teachers are having to clean their rooms and take out trash,” she said. “To have parents that are helping with other things that would lighten their load … it is so important.”
“You can find her wherever a helping hand is needed. We’re grateful for her heart and dedication.”
Alyssa Pry, Northwest ISD Education Foundation spokesperson
Alyssa Pry, director of communications and public relations for the Northwest ISD Education Foundation, said Trainer has become “like an extension of the NEF team,” always looking for ways to support students, teachers and campuses.
“Terri is always ready to jump in and provide support — from the resource store and library to the Angel Tree workshop,” Pry said. “You can find her wherever a helping hand is needed. We’re grateful for her heart and dedication.”
Trainer also wants to push back on a misconception she hears from other parents.
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“There is a misperception that once kiddos get out of elementary, the schools don’t need volunteers anymore,” she said. “That is not true. They still need volunteers. It just looks different because now it’s not classroom parties and decorating bulletin boards. It’s the stuff that is, again, supporting the educators who are trying to equip our kids to grow into functioning adults.”
Her message to families is simple: Don’t wait to be asked.
“Get in where you can and offer what you’re passionate about,” she said. “Whatever your gifts and talents are, they can find a use for it. I’m telling you they can find a use for it.”
For the Angel Tree and everything else she does in Northwest ISD, Trainer sees volunteers as an essential part of the system.
“If not us, then who?” she said.
Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @matthewsgroi1.
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