ARVADA, Colo. — A mother who was unsure she could afford Christmas presents was able to shower her five children with gifts after the Arvada Fire Department and the Salvation Army stepped in.
Shanna Stief watched as her kids unboxed toys on Christmas Day.
“It gives me the chills," she said. "It makes me happy to be able to give them something."
Just a day earlier, on Christmas Eve, she feared her kids would wake up to very few gifts, if any at all.
“It’s heartbreaking," she said. "I don’t know what I would have done without the help."
Back in August, Stief said she broke her neck after falling off a bike. The injury left her out of work for three months and on a tight holiday budget.
“I wouldn’t have been able to afford any of this, not at all,” Stief said.
Stief’s friend reached out to Denver7, and we got in touch with The Salvation Army Denver Red Shield to help the family. It didn’t take long for Stief to get a call from Mandy Hall, an officer with The Salvation Army Denver Red Shield.
“I said, ‘This is Mandy from the Salvation Army, and we have some toys for you,’” Hall said.
This year, the Denver organization received last-minute calls for 10-15 families that needed gifts, according to Hall.
The organization donated 20,000 gifts to children in the Denver metro area.