The spirit of Christmas is alive and well in Huron County as a heartbreaking story turned into one with a happy ending.
Last Friday (December, 2nd, 2016) an Exeter woman had gone out of her way to purchase a number of presents for less fortunate children in the community.
The gifts included various items like coloring books, board games, craft supplies and toys which were destined for a Christmas Toy Drive at a local church but a thoughtless individual entered the picture.
The woman had stopped at the Canadian Tire store in Exeter to buy batteries for some of the toys, only to find out that all the presents had been stolen from her locked vehicle while she was inside the store.
That's when several local police officers banded together and decided to pay it forward.
They chipped in some money from their own pockets to replace the presents, which they did. Not only that, the Canadian Tire store matched their donations.
“It just felt like the right thing to do. She was trying to do something great at this time of the year, and we didn’t want someone to take that away from her. We knew those toys were destined for the less fortunate and we wanted to make sure that still happened,” commented Huron County OPP Provincial Constable Jason Richardson.
Police met the victim at the Canadian Tire store on Thursday and presented the woman with a large bag of toys and other assorted gifts to be given to local children.
As for the person or persons responsible for the theft, Police continue to search for a suspect(s).