Salvation Army fulfills Gulfport family’s Christmas wish

GULFPORT, Miss. (WLOX) - During the season of giving, some families rely on the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program to make sure there are presents under the tree.

Hundreds of South Mississippi children enrolled this this fall but the Perez family stood out from the rest.

“The mother did not speak English. The children actually acted as the interpreters,” Maj. Jerry Friday, Salvation Army Area Commander, said.

The brother/sister duo helped their mother with the paper work while Maj. Friday asked the family what was on their Christmas lists.

“I turned to the little boy, his name was Brandon, and I said, ‘What would you like Santa to bring you this Christmas?’ and he looked at me very puzzled and said, ‘I didn’t know Santa Claus was real.’ so I said, ‘Let’s ask him for something and see if he’s real,’” Friday said.

Brandon and his sister Reynata started listing things like shoes and clothes. But Friday says he urged the children to think more of what they wanted instead of what they needed, like a soccer ball, dolls, cars and other goodies.

“I knew at that moment that I was going to adopt those children and I was going to get them bicycles,” he said.

It wasn’t just the Major who was in a giving sprit. He posted about the family on social media and his friends from Georgia, Oregon and Arkansas reached out and offered to help. Some bought the items on the children’s lists, others shipped over presents they thought the kids would like and others also sent in cash so that Friday could pick up whatever he though they needed. In total, Brandon, Reynata and older brother Christian all got $700 worth of presents.

To make things extra special, a bilingual Salvation Army staff member dressed up as Santa Claus and brought the bicycles to the family personally on Christmas Eve.

“When we rang the bell and knocked on the door, the kids came to the front door not knowing who was at the door. And there was Santa Claus and the man from the Salvation Army and the little boy remembered me,” Friday said.

The two came in for pictures, hugs and even a holiday meal with the family. It was the perfect way to cap off a perfect Christmas along the Mississippi Coast.

“To know that we made that kind of impact on a life, that will speak volumes to my heart forever,” Friday said.

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