PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — In the midst of a pandemic, the Corbett Fire Department says they’re amazed at the community’s generosity that allowed them to make a sick boy’s Christmas wish come true.
Corbett Fire did not release the name of the boy, but said they went to visit him at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland Sunday afternoon with the Corbett Christmas Chicken.
The boy has a rare form of cancer and spent most of 2020 at the hospital. He’ll be there for Christmas too.
This year, he was wishing for a PlayStation 5.
The new gaming console has been hard to find this year and the fire department was having a difficult time finding one available at its original price, without the price being marked up online.
Thankfully, they received a little help from employees at the Cascade Station Best Buy store. The store had a PlayStation 5 in storage. It was a cancelled order and the store didn’t want to re-list it because they were afraid of the crowds it might attract. So, they were holding it until they received another shipment of consoles.
As soon as Corbett Fire heard this, they sent their Christmas Chicken to the Best Buy store to purchase the PlayStation 5. That’s when the store manager said he and his employees were going to donate it to the boy. The employees that were there that day also donated money and bought the boy all the accessories to go with the console, except for headphones – the fire department bought those for him.
“When the manager Jeff told me what they were doing I got teary eyed didn’t really know what to say their generosity was overwhelming. I believe that the total donation of the employees that day was around $700.00,” Tessie Adams, a captain with Corbett Fire Department said.
Thanks to community donations, Corbett Fire was also able to give the boy’s family $6,000 to help with expenses.
Adams said she’s so amazed that in a time of a pandemic, online school, and people being out of work, the fire department was able to collect more donations than they ever have before.