ST. IGNACE — Michigan State Police from across the Upper Peninsula came together this week to make sure a little girl spending Christmas in the hospital doesn’t go without the joy of having toys from Santa.
When it comes to the business of toy delivery this time of year, Santa’s sleigh comes in all shapes and sizes.
Gift Relay
And this week the man in the big red suit, called in a favor from the guys in the blue suits and the blue goose.
“I wouldn’t say that I’m surprised of how they came together. I’m happy of how they pull together. That’s kind of how our community is up there,” said Trooper Joe Renaud.
Earlier this month, State Police in Wakefield heard the story of two-year-old Vialah White who was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma, a rare and aggressive cancer often found in young children.
She’s currently receiving treatment at C.S. Mott Children’s Hosptial in Ann Arbor.
“That’s where our troopers, you know, when you hear something like that, they just wanted to do something special to show our support for Vialah and her family. Just being a fellow community member, we just wanted to do something special for them,” said Spl/Lt. Benjamin Eckola.
State Police went to work, using their time and money, with help from the community buy gifts for Vialah.
“I guess she’s really into the character Bluey, which is a popular cartoon right now and a few other comforting things for her as well. So we were able to quickly go shop, get those things together, get a gift basket together and then work out the logistics of how we were going to get it down to her ahead of Christmas,” said Eckola.
The solution? A relay of State Police cars covering the more than 500 miles between the western U.P and the children’s hospital downstate.
“On that short notice we kind of put together as much donations locally within the community and at our post level and then I went out and we bought presents and then we wrapped the presents and now as if it’s Santa’s sleigh. I came trucking across the U.P. from Wakefield to St. Ignace we’ll take it from St. Ignace down to Flint and then from Flint to the Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor,” explained Renaud.
“It’s going to take troopers from across the entire state of Michigan to make this happen. And it just shows you that’s where the department puts a lot of its time into is community outreach. And, it’s not just about writing the tickets and pulling people over. But how can we better our communities and how can we make it better for the next person in front of us,” said Trooper Cody Mayer.
The Monday mission proved a success.
“I’m happy to be a part of it. Yes, we chose the life of law enforcement. With that comes arrests, writing tickets, and different things like that, but we also get to give back to our community. And this is that part of that, to be able to do that good, to give back, to serve the community. And I am just grateful to be part of it, grateful that the other community service troopers stepped in, stepped up, and made this possible,” said Renaud.