Lauderhill firefighters make family's Christmas dreams come true

Firefighters donate computer, iPods, camera, gift cards to family

LAUDERHILL, Fla. – For Tangela Frasier, 2013 has been a rough year. The mother of six got divorced and could only find part-time work to support her four minor children. Her older daughter in college had to leave school because they could not afford it any more.

Anything non-essential was out of her budget.

"Last couple of years, my kids haven't had a Christmas," said Frazier.

By chance, Frazier came across a couple of Lauderhill firefighters looking for donated Christmas trees, and she told them her story. The firefighters connected with her and decided to help.

On Christmas Eve, they loaded up their fire trucks with everything on the children's Christmas list and much more.

When Frasier realized what was going on, she burst into tears.

The firefighters of Lauderhill Station 73 and the Firefighters' Benevolent Association presented the Frasier family with a computer, iPods and a camera, as well as gift cards for school clothes.

"Lauderhill, you never could imagine, how grateful my family feels right now," said Frasier.

Despite their money problems, Frasier said the children continue to get straight A's in school and they never complain about anything.

The children are so grateful and gracious.

"I would like to say thanks because they took time out of their time to help us," said 13-year-old Lamar.

"I think it's awesome and very nice because my family was not fortunate enough to get the things that we wanted," said 14-year-old Lerriq.

For the firefighters, the joy of seeing them happy was more than enough.

"It's an honor for us, a blessing for us to be able to help someone," said Lt. Jason Clarke. "We are in the line of spreading joy not only for medical calls but for times like this."

For the New Year, Frazier wants a full-time job so she can provide more for her children and maybe have enough to help others.

If you are interested in helping this family, you can email Neki Mohan at nmohan@wplg.com.