Her son kept disappearing so she called police — he was discovered selling hundreds of cans to buy her Christmas gift
During each festive season, parents mostly spend their time packing gifts for their families and planning a feast for them. A single mother was also trying to do the same for her four kids. However, she had no idea what her kids were planning for her during Christmas of 2017. As per the reports of CBS 11, the struggling mom named Sophia Reed from Oklahoma City was at her wit's end. Reed had spent her savings to move into a new apartment with her family and she was worried about gifts for her kids on Christmas. On top of that, her son occasionally kept disappearing after the shifting.
The woman whose husband had left her all of a sudden had prepared a nice Christmas dinner for herself and her kids. The dinner was supposed to compensate for all the Christmas presents she couldn't buy for them due to a lack of financial stability. “We were expecting a nice dinner for Christmas and just be together and just show love to each other,” Reed told the news outlet and expressed worries for her 13-year-old son, Darius. Sometimes, Darius would disappear from the house for hours. Reed eventually contacted the police authorities when Darius disappeared once again in the middle of December.
The mother who was fearing for the safety of her kids got a heartfelt surprise instead. “I was afraid he was going to get in trouble,” Reed’s daughter, Deneisha, told Oklahoma 4 News. “I just didn’t want to say anything because it would blow the whole thing.” Finally, Darius was found by the cop and he had a chat with Officer Roland Russel of the Oklahoma City Police Department. The kid revealed the real cause behind his mysterious disappearance. Darius was actually collecting hundreds of cans to raise money and buy some Christmas gifts for his mother. At that point, Darius had collected $13. “On my way out to my car, I go down the stairs and I see him sitting there,” Russell told KOCO News. “It was, like probably, 30 degrees outside and he had a little T-shirt on.”
Russell learned about Darius' secret plan to surprise his mother and decided to keep it a secret for him. He went back to the police station and shared the boy's intention with his colleagues, who decided to help Darius. With Russell’s support, the police department was able to raise about $800 to buy gifts for Reed and her children before Christmas arrived. “I started getting messages from all kinds of people,” Russell recalled to the outlet. “I didn’t think I was going to and it ended up turning into a pretty big deal.” Darius' little dream to gift his mother something meaningful turned out to be an unforgettable Christmas miracle for the Reed family.
The mom received new clothes, Darius got a bike and his 4-year-old sister Lauren was given a set of toys. The other two children also got their own collection of gifts. The officers from the police department also decided to add a cherry on top by bringing freshly baked pizzas for the entire family. The police department also shared a sweet video capturing the wholesome moment with the Reed family on their official Facebook page. As for Darius, he was glad that he went out to collect and search for dozens of cans for hours because he just wanted to do something special for his mom.