I thought you guys may be interested in reading about a REAL LIFE Christmas story, complete with a Scrooge and some (ongoing) happy miracles being fulfilled towards the end!
Background: 
You guys probably know there are several charities collecting toys, coats, etc., for kids or seniors struggling with financial hardship, especially at this time of the year, many of the charities local, and some national. One of the big national toy & clothing drives is by The Salvation Army. In addition to their buckets with a Santa ringing a bell at various corners, The SA also has a program called their
Angel Tree Program where some SA sites partner up with a local
Walmart to have an angel tree set up at those stores.

The program has been around for years.
There are certain rules for applying and being accepted to receive donations, as in being scrupulously checked to prevent fraud by those just trying to do it to get free items when they have no financial need, or no kids even. Each applicant is encouraged to request on their angel tree tag
specific toy(s) and an item of clothing. (They provide the gender, size & color preference.) No generic, "Toys appropriate for an 8 year old." This is for Christmas. Even Santa

asks children what specific toys they want.
There are certain rules/requests for the people fulfilling the angel tree tag requests. The first request is to please donate a
minimum of $30 in items. (If one cannot do this, there are PLENTY of other charities, like Toys For Tots, which only requests that unwrapped new toys be donated. No specific amount or specific toys required. Many churches and firehouses take donations. Or many nursing homes, senior centers or women's centers gratefully accept basic essentials like toiletry items, soaps & shampoos, etc., for the seniors.)
The second angel tree tag rule/request is to fulfill the wishes exactly as possible to what the person specifically requested. Meaning, if a child requested a
Lego set (which can run $50+ depending how complex, do NOT take that angel tree tag and just donate a bunch of dollar store coloring books and crayons and think that is acceptable.
ALL the angel tree tags are easily readable ahead of time on each tree. So one can CHOOSE which tag one would like to fulfill, if at all. There is no shame with someone passing or putting back a tag if they cannot fulfill the request. Some children/teens ask for high priced items that many people can't fulfill. (The kids don't know the price of things. If ever a miracle can happen, we are told it may happen at Christmas. So they wish for things.) Meanwhile, most tags by seniors (that I have seen) request items like a blanket/throw, a comfy sweater, or pajamas & a robe, and hygiene items.
Onto the Scroogess:
We all know social media influencers get an idea for a topic and post about it to get views. Since they've monetized their social media account, they get money for a lot of subscribers, followers, views, likes and comments.
A little over a month ago, the husband of an influencer named Itscookiedoughh came up with the idea to get two angel tree kids to buy & donate items for. The influencer ran with the idea of filming herself buying the toys. They picked a boy and a girl, even though she says they are "boy parents."
She tells everyone about the $30 minimum and goes down the Barbie doll aisle, even though the angel girl had specifically asked for
different dolls. She picks out a cheap $10 doll and 3 other items, and at one point says how if her items equal about $25, with tax, the TOTAL will be $30. It suddenly wasn't a minimum, but a maximum.
The husband finally Googles what the specific doll the girl wants, finds the picture and even the dolls at the store. The dolls are $3
4 each, with tax about $38.
The influencer says to him, wouldn't the girl want 4 items instead of getting just one item? He says, it's the one she ASKED for. The influencer wants to get the (cheaper) 4 items instead.
At one point, she happens to point to a huge (expensive) toy truck set that she is getting her sons for Christmas. So they aren't hurting for money. She also has no problem getting the angel boy the items he wants.
After she posted her shopping trip, her post went viral as people were slamming her for NOT getting the toy the angel girl asked for. People begged her to please put the angel tag back if she wasn't going to get the toy the girl wants, so someone else can fulfill her wish. Other people also posted their own posts & videos
about this influencer, saying she's an, "Angel tree gone wrong!"

One commenter also mentioned, isn't the truck set her sons are getting the set she posted on her
Amazon wishlist, that some of her followers got for her? Or maybe she used the money she got from her 300K followers to buy it.
The influencer doubled down, saying people need to learn to be grateful for whatever they get. She also mentioned doing the angel tree wasn't her idea, but her husband's. She would have rather given to the animal charity she wanted. Yeah, animals can't talk back.
She got even more flack for that, so much so, that she ended up, first changing her screenname to something else. When that didn't work, she deleted all her posts and eventually deactivated her account.
Here is a video of someone who copied and posted what the influencer posted and added her own commentary. Don't worry, the original influencer isn't making a cent off this video.
Unfortunately, we still don't know about the angel tree girl. Although, I've later read posts by some volunteers who work various Angel Tree programs say the SA will likely get her the doll themselves from cash donation funds they receive. EACH angel tree bag is checked before it goes onto the recipient and they try to fulfill them with the right item. (They can't always do a really expensive item, but they try with the smaller items the kids also asked for.) And, if it turns out, a family is getting several bags, and the donations were split up between different donors, and one donor gave a lot more, SA tries to fill the other bags to equalize all the bags, so one child isn't getting significantly more items, or more expensive items than the other siblings.
The Miracles: 
Sometimes, a social media post going "viral" is a good thing. It alerts us to something we didn't know about. It publicizes something and allows people to take their own action and turn things around. Some are able to make something new a positive trend.
ALL of THIS is exactly what has been happening.

After many other influencers, particularly those with over 100K followers of their own, saw that influencer's "How not to be" video, they learned about the Angel Tree Program. They also wanted to film their own shopping trips done the RIGHT way. The generous, caring way. They have turned this in an "Angel Tree trend." Not only are they doing the tags, many viewers are doing it too, because they found out about the angel trees from them. Many people have reported the trees are empty of tags by the time they get to a tree!
Since many of the influencers are in a monetary position to be more generous, they pick the tags with either the higher priced items, or do more tags, like for siblings, or BOTH! Many of them started their first angel tree shopping trips just doing two tags. But, as they gained some experience and confidence, many of them say, "I'm using the money I got from you for my last video o do these angel tree donations." Then they do 4 or more tags or a whole family the following trips. And they do
multi trips with multiple tags each trip!
When a child asks for a bike, not only do they get them a bike, they also get them a helmet and bike pump (that the kid didn't know they will need.) When they ask for a jacket or coat, some influencers not only get them their size now, (as on the tag,) but will often
also get the size up in a different color/style, so their parent won't have to worry about when growing out of the current one. When a kid asks for a top, the influencer buys them a full outfit, complete with a package of undies, socks and shoes, if the shoe size was included.
A teen female asked for makeup. Instead of going to the makeup aisle at Target or Walmart, one influencer who is really girlie herself, went to Sephora and bought a few gift packs of makeup, perfumes, scented soaps and candles.
A couple teens asked for a tablet or computer, and they each got one.
They also picked tags for seniors. Not only did the seniors get a blanket they asked for, they also got a bed set, and some pillows. One got slippers along with new sets of pajamas AND a robe. Some of the men got nice comfy sweatshirt hoodie sets with pants. And they ALL got an assortment of much needed self care, hygiene items they requested and packs of toothbrushes. (The kids got them too.)
There have been some comments berated the influencers saying real generosity shouldn't be boasted about and done on camera to show off and for clicks. I understand where they are coming from.
But, since I know they are making money off of my clicks and likes, it's actually nice, vicariously going on the shopping trips with them to see how the little bit of money from me helps them do good in the world.

The shopping trips are fun for me. And I can tell they are having a blast being able to spend money in a way that will actually make someone else's day.
And there have been many comments in the posts in which people have said they have been recipients of Angel Trees when they were children. They said it really changed or influenced them. Something they have never forgotten. It was about more than the gifts. They learned that strangers they didn't even know cared about them. And that has stayed with them for a lifetime.
Here is Serena Neel, my favorite influencer doing the Angel Tree donations. Back about a month and a half ago, during the government shutdown, and about the time she hit 1Million followers, and the money she makes significantly goes up, she had started by donating 100 pizzas to her city's 10 firehouses. Another time she donated 1000 Campbell soup cans and 1700 ramen noodle bowls to food pantries. So, she was already generously giving
before she found out about the Angel Trees.
When she "adopts" kids for the Angel Tree, she calls them HER kids:
Buying 3 bikes for kids, because she can!