DE PERE, Wis.- The true meaning of Christmas came to a De Pere family after thieves nearly ruined the holiday.
"Bikes, roller blades, food from my freezer, even my chest freezer," explained Lynette Berreau. She learned of the Christmas theft on Monday, just four days before Christmas.
The news devastating for Berreau, who's a mother of 3 children ages 7 to 9. She worried whether or not she could make Christmas happen for her family this year.
"I was crunching numbers," said Berreau.
Then a miracle happened.
"It is the Christmas season and the police department has elves too," said De Pere police officer, Jedd Bradley.
Those elves rallied together behind the dispatcher who took the call from Berreau Monday night.
"When I got off the phone with her, just the tone in her voice, it just felt different," explained 911 dispatcher, Billi Jo Baneck.
In just one day the dispatch center along with police in Green Bay and De Pere raised several hundred dollars for the Berreau family.
"I couldn't help but cry because I've been the person that gives," said Berreau.
This time however, she's receiving. Now she's buying Christmas presents for her kids, but also paying the favor forward.
"I gave a little bit of it to the Salvation Army because I don't need all of that," said Berreau.
Despite losing everything, she says she's not mad at the thieves.
"I refuse to get angry about this. I'm going to be empathetic and forgiving because that's what I want to instill in my children," said Berreau.
Berreau says because of the money donated by police this Christmas will be the best she's had with her children in a long time. She's calling the police officers her Christmas angels.
