Chicago's 911 dispatchers say they rescued Christmas this year for a family whose distraught grandmother had called for help.Watch a CNN video interview with the dispatchers:
Shirley Bell, 61, called 911 Christmas Eve morning for her very upset 8-year-old grandson, Malik Parish, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Sunday.
"It was something about that grandmother's voice, and that child and his candidness. He said, 'I don't have any toys for Christmas,'" said 911 dispatcher Pamela Jenkins.
Bell, who has custody of five children, said she recently suffered a stroke and a heart attack, and support checks from the state had not arrived.
Jenkins alerted co-workers and dispatched police officers, who found a nice, clean home without a single sign of Christmas, the Sun-Times reported.
Within hours, the 911 dispatchers and their families had gathered $200 for new presents to go with nice toys and clothes donated by their own children, Jenkins said. Malik got a G.I. Joe and a PlayStation 1 and groceries were delivered to his family Christmas Day.
"There are countless times we want to help,'' Jenkins said. "I enjoyed it, and I wished we could help people more than we do.''
You probably saw that headline and said "what?" I did too."I'm just grateful that he is alive and breathing, and he is walking -- I have to tell him to slow down."> Read the Full Story
"This is the best Christmas miracle that I could ever imagine."
A friend passed on this wonderful story about a gracious man who helped others during the depression.IN the weeks just before Christmas of 1933 — 75 years ago — a mysterious offer appeared in The Repository, the daily newspaper here. It was addressed to all who were suffering in that other winter of discontent known as the Great Depression. The bleakest of holiday seasons was upon them, and the offer promised modest relief to those willing to write in and speak of their struggles. In return, the donor, a “Mr. B. Virdot,” pledged to provide a check to the neediest to tide them over the holidays....
