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Local business owner surprises 12 children with Christmas shopping spree

Mammoth Roofing owner Trisha Lira contacted several local organizations to compile a list of 12 children selected from different areas of town.
Credit: Randall Case

SAN ANGELO, Texas — Winston Churchill said we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

Trisha Lira, owner of Mammoth Roofing, really took that sentiment to the next level this year when she decided to give 12 San Angelo children a shopping spree at the South Bryant Walmart SuperCenter.

“Back in June of last year, my company opened a branch here, and since then we’ve just been so blessed by the community. I wanted to be able to give back,” Lira said at the event. “So we’ve been here a bit over a year and I got our team together and said, ‘What can we do for this community?’ and we thought, ‘Hey, 12 days of cheer. Let’s find one child from different parts of the community to add up to the 12 kids.’”

Lira and her team reached out to several local organizations to compile the list.

“San Angelo ISD gave us a few kids, Boys and Girls Club… so everyone really got to be involved and we got different children from different areas. It’s been really great and we’re hoping next year we can have more small businesses participate and have more children be a part of it. I know it’s going to flourish into something great for the entire community.”

Lira got to meet a lot of happy little ones Sunday at the event.

“The children are just very humble. We’re just like, ‘Go in there! Get it!’” she said. “All these children come from different backgrounds and have different stories, and we’re just glad to be able to share something with them." 

She also got to meet a lot of very happy parents of course, some of whom were unsure if the “regular old Santa” was going to come through for them this year like he has in the pre-COVID past.

“It's definitely is a blessing,” parent Roger Rodriguez said. “I do remodeling work, and due to COVID, there’s not a lot of people who want to open their homes to people doing work inside, so it’s been a little slow and there were a lot of things I didn’t believe I was gonna be able to get for them, but thanks to this, you know. God is good.”

Credit: Randall Case
Roger Rodriguez and Aubree

Another parent, Sarah Moreno, said that Lira's kind gesture gave her all the feelings. “Overwhelmed, blessed… Everything, all at one time. I was proud. It was heartwarming as a parent, to be able to bring her to this and let her do this."

Credit: Randall Case
Violet and Sarah Moreno

The reality of the event took parent Denesia Cruz off-guard once she and her son Kaienn arrived. 

“When I took him to school Monday they told me that he was nominated to be picked for all this good stuff. I didn’t know it was going to be like this, though. I was thinking maybe a couple of items... My apartment too little for all this,” joked Cruz. ”We gonna make it work, though. I was just blessed. I just feel lucky."

Credit: Randall Case
Future television personality Kaienn

As for the lucky kiddos, the giving spirit was contagious. All of the children we spoke with were as excited to bring home items for their siblings as they were for themselves. 

"I have a list for what I’m going to get for my brothers and sisters. They said we have a time limit and I just don’t want to waste it," Rodriguez's daughter, Aubree, said. “I’m really excited because I’ve never had anything like this happen to me before. I’m just really grateful for this."

Lira said she's already looking forward to going bigger and better next year, hoping to create a sort of holiday cheer snowball effect.

"It’s not something huge, and we wish we could do it for more, but like I said, as we get the community together, grow it more every year, I know it’s just going to be this beautiful thing.”

 

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