Post by Frank Somerville KTVU


“Oh my God I love it!
There is even stuff in there for the kids.
This means the world to me.
This means I can get my kids out of the house.
I can grocery shop.”
Those words from Christine Wheeler.
She would walk 12 miles a day two and from work because she couldn’t afford a car.
But not anymore.
Here’s what the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department wrote about her:
We’ve received several calls about a 24 year old woman walking on 59 Highway between Ottawa and Princeton at around 7:00AM.
Deputies would give her a ride to work so she would not have to walk on the cold highway.
They learned this woman walked to work at Love’s truck stop six miles (and then six miles back home) to support and feed her two small children.
On December 9, after giving the woman a ride to work, a small group of Deputies gathered to discuss how we could help this woman.
After only a few days, through generous citizens and businesses and the use of our “No Shave November” funds we were able to donate a van, two new car seats, a price chopper gift card, the registration for the van and the first year of car insurance along with $200
On December 15, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office along with members of the community surprised Wheeler with all of these items in hopes for making a better Christmas for her and her small children.
—-Franklin County Sheriff’s Department
Wheeler says that when the deputy first came into her work she was worried that she’d done something wrong.
The deputy asked her to step outside.
“He said, ‘Hey so I need to talk to you,’ and I’m thinking, ‘Oh gosh am I in trouble?’”
Instead there was a group of people waiting to show her her new van.
Wheeler said:
“Omg I love it.
Now I can take my kids to the park!”
Total salute for Franklin County Sheriffs.