Christmas Redo for Tornado Victims

This event was a biggie and our favorite of the season. The purpose of the event was to provide gifts and serve lunch to the many folks from Garland and Rowlett who lost so much as a result of the tornadoes of December 26, 2015. The celebration took place at the First Baptist Church on Main Street in Rowlett. It was scheduled to take place between 10am and 2pm. When we arrived at 10am a long line of people were waiting to check in.

The part of the church being used for the Christmas Redo is probably the Sunday school area. There were about a dozen classroom sized rooms with toys on display that were sorted according to children’s ages. There were also rooms designated for dining, media representatives, gifts for adult and another with Christmas decorations. We located our friends, Anita Goebel and Pat Olson, in a room that had been set up for Santa photos. This Santa was a bit different, because he was very tall and spoke with an Australian accent. Noticing the accent, we heard one of the mom’s ask, “Are you from Louisiana?” By 2 pm over 125 families had posed for pictures with Santa.

We were told that more than 100 volunteers had assisted Steve Walker with the event. Many were on hand to guide the families from room to room and help pack up the toys and gifts. The volunteers were easy to spot, because they were wearing event tee shirts, which were bright red, and elves’ hats, so they really stood out in the crowd. The atmosphere was very festive and the event ran very smoothly, or so it seemed to this casual observer.

We chatted with State Representative Cindy Burkett, who was assisting with the event, and Garland Mayor Douglas Athas Who, along with Rowlett Mayor Todd Gottel, had been out since early morning picking up toys from toy drives. Athas mentioned that the two mayors had begun their day with breakfast at Hubbard’s, where they had picked up a sizeable donation and toys from Hubbard’s own Toy drive.

There is a long list of sponsors, contributors and volunteers for this event, but there was only one man who put it all together. That individual is 57 year old Steve Walker, Rowlett resident and father of two teenagers. Though his home was not touched by the tornado Steve had suffered great personal lost over the previous year, with the deaths of both his wife and his mother. We all deal with grief differently, and it seems that Steve chose to do it by serving others who were also grieving for their loss.

Steve is also heavily involved in scouting and a leader of Troop 100, headquartered in downtown Garland. He has tirelessly conducted dozens of fundraisers for both the BSA and Rowlett Strong and was recently recognized by the Rowlett City Council for his community service. When he isn’t serving his community or mentoring Boy Scouts, Steve works as a broadcasting engineer and freelance writer.

Someone once said that the best of humanity rise up in the worst of circumstances.

Nancy Ghirla

Email: [email protected]