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Festival of Trees trees delivered to new owners

Posted at 5:26 PM, Dec 02, 2012
and last updated 2012-12-02 23:02:20-05

SALT LAKE CITY - The annual Festival of Trees ended on Saturday and more than 700 trees are beginning to be delivered to their new owners on Sunday.

The annual festival has been around for four decades and has raised millions for Primary Children's Medical Center, including $1.6 million last year.

Each tree is donated and most have a story of a courageous battle for survival or a lost life behind them. The trees are auctioned then hand delivered to their new owners.

FOX 13 went along as a tree was delivered to the Packard family in Sandy who had no idea they would be receiving the tree they say they left a piece of their hearts in.

The tree was decorated and donated in remembrance of their son Charlie, who was only 4 months old when he died in April of this year.

"Someone who has heard about this situation or knows of your situation and wanted to purchase it and give it back," said Trudy from the Festival of Trees.

The tree, appropriately named "A hui hou kakou," which is "Until We Meet Again" in Hawaiian, was designed in an island theme as a reminder of how Charlie died while on a family trip to Hawaii.

"The day after we got there we put him down just like we normally do for his afternoon nap and when we found him he had passed away from SIDS," Charlie's mother said.