Buying a Christmas tree in LaGrange could help people around the globe and right here in Troup County.

For the second straight year, City Light Church in LaGrange is selling Christmas trees to help improve people’s lives.

“We have a lot of dreams and Buy a Tree, Change a Life helps us do that,” said Pastor Mark Davenport.

Proceeds will go toward the People for Care and Learning, an organization trying to end poverty around the globe.

Proceeds will also be used to help fund Empowerment Wednesdays in elementary schools around the county and to house a homeless person for a year, something the church does annually. The church was given a home few years ago and allows a homeless person to stay there for free as they work their way back into society, Davenport said.

“We pick a family to go in there, and we pay for all of their expenses for a year in the home,” Davenport said.

“Utilities, maintenance, all that stuff and at the end of the year they are ready to go back into society.”

As of Saturday morning, the church still had around 150 trees left to sell. Last year, they didn’t make much money, partly because they sold trees at the church and didn’t get a lot of traffic. This year they are using a space on Lafayette Parkway, near the square, and people are rolling in.

“The location has made a huge difference,” he said.

Jennie Gordy bought her tree on Saturday after her boss told her about the trees available.

“My boss called me and told me she had found the perfect Christmas tree for me,” Gordy said. “We have been looking for an old-fashioned looking Christmas tree with heavy branches and gaps between the limbs. She found the tree and said I had to go get it, and I’m here to get it.”

Gordy said she also wanted to help out the church’s cause.

“It all goes to a good cause, and that’s what Christmas is all about,” she said.

Trees are available in all different sizes, from 3-foot to 13-foot. All of the trees come from North Carolina, and they are kept in water so they stay in good shape.

“You can pull on our trees and the needles don’t come off,” Davenport said. “They are sitting out in front of a store waiting for someone to come pick them up.”

Plus, the trees will be giving back well beyond Dec. 25.

“Once you buy a tree, that tree will keep giving long after Christmas is over with,” Davenport said.

Trees will be available until they sell out, Davenport said. The hours are Monday-Thursday noon to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.,  and Sunday from noon to 8 p.m.