There are many things that impress me about Garland. Sure, some outside the city think we're too blue-collar or too car-sales-centric, but those are not representative qualities of us at all. Among many wonderful qualities, I'm impressed by the charity we so often have for each other.
 
At the city staff level, it is commonplace to see or hear examples of staff members helping others. With 2000 city employees, a caller isn't going to get the right department every time, but there is someone answering the phone trying. We're not surprised to see firemen raising contributions for gifts for those facing unusual economic challenges. The code folks carry tools and paint to whack limbs or paint over graffiti instead of writing a notice. Code and several departments assist the elderly and handicapped with services. The list is long.
 
So the following report isn't a surprise but it still shows especially caring hearts:

From KDFW Fox 4 TV online:

Police Replace Woman’s Stolen Bike

Photo from myFOXdfw online.

Published : Thursday, 05 Jan 2012, 6:47 PM CST
Shaun Rabb, FOX 4 News
Adapted for Web by Tracy DeLatte | myFOXdfw.com
 
GARLAND, Texas - Traumatized by two horrific car accidents, a North Texas has avoided cars for 15 years. But bad actors recently ripped off her bike and she was without a ride until now.
 
“The bike is my car. I mean, I do everything on that bike,” said Denise Armendariz.
 
Armendariz has been involved in two major accidents caused by drunken drivers.
 
“The cars hit me on my side and threw us up into the tree, on the ground, and another, up and the doors flew open. The impact went right through me and I was just shaking. I couldn’t hardly breathe,” she said. “I just said, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ I was just having terrible panic attacks in the car and fear and I just couldn’t deal with that.”
 
She got around fine on her purple and white Huffy mountain bike until someone stole it from her Garland apartment.
 
“I had it locked, but the thing is it makes me feel very unsafe. And if they only knew what they were tampering with, it’s more than just the bike itself,” she said.
 
Garland police did more to help Armendariz than just take an incident report over the phone. An officer actually went out and spoke to her, wanting to know why the bicycle was so important to her.
 
“I didn’t know policemen were involved in this sort of stuff. I know they are out to help others, but not this way, in a personal one-on-one way. It feels nice,” she said. “I’m just so happy and blessed that that policeman took the time to come to my house and take the time to say, ‘What’s going on?’”
 
When the department learned about Armendariz’s history in cars, officers contacted Wal-Mart and worked together to give her a new bike.
 
“What a great deal. It's community coming together, not just retailer Wal-Mart but also the police department and us, everybody doing what’s right,” said Joe Harn, a spokesman for the Garland Police Department.
 
Read more on myFOXdfw.com. Video report also at that link.
 

1 comment

Comments:

Comment from: Deborah Morris [Visitor]

Garland is a great place to live. We've had so many positive experiences here over the last 25+ years that we'd never consider moving to one of the supposedly "cooler" cities around DFW.

01/08/12 @ 19:29

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