Dallas School Pitches In To Give Mother, Five Kids New Home
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DALLAS (CBS 11 NEWS) - A Dallas school comes together to help a family after a fire took their home.
Tonight, a mother and her five children will sleep under a new roof thanks to the kindness of others.
One week ago, a fire burned everything inside the home Milton Garcia shared with his mother and four siblings.
They all survived the fire, but all their clothing and furnishings didn't. That's where Sgt. Keith Atkinson, a teacher at Cary Middle School, stepped in.
"We look at Milton as part of our family, so we're just teaching kids to reach out and help someone," said Atkinson.
Atkinson teaches "tenets of togetherness" at Cary, and that lesson of teamwork moved from the classroom to a Northwest Dallas apartment unit.
Teachers, volunteers and Milton Garcia himself, moved donated furniture and other items into the family's new home. Fellow students gathered money and food. Beds for the family, even new bedding, were all of donated by students and teachers. Church and volunteer groups near Cary also contributed to the family.
Milton's sisters, a baby niece and his mother were all living in a garage Monday. Now, the family has a new home, with six months rent paid.
"I'm very, very happy. Thanks for everything...Now we have the couches, food, a bed. Now we have a place to live," said Milton's mother, Maria Garcia.
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