Fire department makes late Christmas delivery -

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Fire department makes late Christmas delivery - Top Stories

Friday, December 28, 2001

Fire department makes late Christmas delivery

Inspiration: Letter to Santa moves firefighters to grant child's

wish.

BY ANTHONY CASKEY

The Brownsville Herald

Christmas might not always arrive on Dec. 25.

Sometimes it takes a little longer.

That is what one Brownsville family discovered Thursday when a

Brownsville Fire Department engine company pulled up to their East Madison

Street home with sacks full of toys for the family's children.

Firefighters who delivered the presents said a day or two after

Christmas, Fire Capt. Mendez found a letter to Santa Claus written by

8-year-old Yesenia Palomares.

According to older sister Yazmin, a freshman at Pace High School,

Yesenia penned the letter at her school.

" She (Yesenia) just came home from school, and she told us, 'Mom, I

wrote to Santa Claus,' " Yazmin, 15, said.

The handwritten note - decorated with flowers, stars, Christmas

trees and snowmen - requested gifts for her brother, sisters and parents.

" Dear Santa Claus, " Yesenia wrote, " I know you must be busy now but

I have a favor to ask. "

Yesenia explained that her mother has been ill and times have been

hard.

" My small Christmas tree is sad and I want to ask if you could

please visit our home, " she wrote.

Her wish list included a little kitchen with dishes, a Nintendo and

some tennis shoes for herself.

A coloring book and Barbie doll for her sister. For her brother,

7-year-old Guadalupe, she requested some tennis shoes, a jacket and some Hot

Wheels. For her older sister, Yazmin, some boots and clothes.

In closing, she asks for gifts for her mother and father then

includes her address and phone number, noting, " Thank you Santa, call me and

we'll be waiting at our house for you. Feliz Navidad. Merry Christmas. "

The girls' mother, , didn't know what to do with the letter,

but little sister Jocelyn, 4, did.

" She (Jocelyn) said, 'You can take it over to the fire department,

because Santa Claus lives there,' " Yazmin explained.

So the family delivered the letter to the fire department, hoping it

would reach Santa in time for Christmas.

" I think the letter got shuffled into our paperwork, " firefighter

Ben Nuñez Jr., son of Brownsville Fire Marshal Ben Nuñez, said.

Capt. Mendez found the letter and presented it to Engine Company 1

Thursday morning to see if something could be done for the family.

The firefighters prepared four bags of toys - three for girls and

one for a boy, and headed to the Palomares residence to deliver the belated

Christmas gifts.

The Palomares family was overjoyed.

" We are very surprised, " said. " I didn't think they would

receive the letter my daughter wrote . We are really thankful to them for the

attention they gave to my daughter's letter. "

" On (Dec.) 25, they (the children) didn't celebrate that much, "

Yazmin said. But they did on Dec. 27.

" They were a little shy around us, " Nuñez Jr. said.

When the firefighters began to leave, the children started to come

out of their shells.

" We were looking back and they were pulling out the toys, " he said.

" Their faces lighted up, " Lt. Geronimo Sheldon said. " It feels good

when you see a kid appreciate something. "

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