With lights flashing and sirens blaring, they arrived like Santa on his sleigh, bearing the gift of Christmas joy.
This past weekend, the Nye County Sheriff’s Office, Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue Service and Industrial Light and Power made some very special deliveries to area families in need, bringing packages and presents, even a holiday meal complete with a whole ham, all in an effort to ensure those families could enjoy Christmas day to its fullest.
The Pahrump Valley Times was invited along for the first round of deliveries on Friday, Dec. 20 and upon arrival at the sheriff’s station, witnessed a scene of organized chaos. Volunteers were busy working to bag the remainder of the hundreds of items that were donated and purchased specifically for the families selected, double-checking that the tags denoting the proper destination for each were attached and rolling bicycles and lugging boxed filled with holiday foods out into the parking lot to be loaded into a sheriff’s vehicle.
Once everything was packed into the cars and trucks, the procession started out and it was a touching scene as each of the families were visited that evening.
As they pulled up to the homes, all in a line, staffers jumped out of the sheriff’s vehicles and fire rigs with faces bright with smiles of anticipation, while the family to receive the Christmas delivery gathered around, their own faces lit up with delight.
Leading the charge were Nye County Sheriff Sharon Wehrly and Reserve Sergeant Alan Schrimpf, along with Fire Chief Scott Lewis and a host of other first responders. Also at hand was community activist Ryan Muccio, who works as area manager for Encompass Home Health and who was a lead in helping to organize the massive undertaking.
Rapidly locating the items marked for each particular address and family, the first responders unloaded and happily handed the haul over to the obviously overjoyed recipients, shaking hands and exchanging warm greetings before heading back out for another delivery. Over the rest of that evening and the following day, the sheriff’s office and fire department continued to visit the gift recipients, which included families throughout Nye County, including Pahrump, Tonopah and Beatty.
The Christmas delivery undertaking was a collaborative effort that included the generosity of the first responders themselves as well as several local businesses. Organizers offered their thanks to all for the donations that helped make the event possible.
Donations included $2,500 from Industrial Light and Power, $2,500 from Encompass Home Health, a $500 food donation from Smith’s, $500 worth of food and toys from Walmart, $300 from Good Samaritan Family Practice, $250 each from the Pahrump Valley Rotary Club, Reflections Healthcare and Assemblyman Greg Hafen II, as well as $100 each from ProCare Hospice and Pahrump Valley Carpet Care.
Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com