"Please, My Son Needs A Warm Coat"

Thanks to publicity provided by WFAA Channel 8 TV, our recently completed Community Service Corps/"Christmas Store" project ended with a surge of excitement. Friday before Christmas our phones rang non-stop as donors and people in need called to get more information.

One voice mail message stood out!

"Hello. My name is Ruth. I saw the television report. I don't want toys or anything. Please, my son needs a warm coat. Size 14. It is cold and he has no coat. Please help me."

The caller left her phone number. As with every call we received, we called her back. The rest of Ruth's story might surprise you. She earned a B. S. from Wayne State University. She has an impressive employment history and resume. She is divorced. Her son's father lives out of state. He seldom sends any child support, though she and the Attorney General started working on that recently! Her hard luck began when the major health care corporation she worked for laid off her and scores of other employees. She has been searching frantically for work. In her spare time she volunteers at her eleven year old son's school. He does very well in a gifted and talented program.

"Nathan (her son) will not have any toys this year at Christmas," she told us. "He cried the night I told him, but he will be okay. All he really needs is a coat."

To his surprise, Nathan received some toys on Christmas day, as well as a new, warm coat. Thanks to so many wonderful supporters, that was the simple part.

Ruth shares much in common with hundreds of unemployed men and women in Dallas. She needs to be seen, heard and known. As a community, we cannot afford to overlook her or Nathan.

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