Gifts Come in the St. Nick of Time as Girl Dials 911

Santa Claus finally arrived Wednesday at the home of an 8-year-old girl who called 911 to find out why he hadn’t left her any gifts on Christmas.

“Santa Claus brings things to a lot of people, and he didn’t bring us anything,” Brenda Cervantes said Wednesday, explaining why she called 911 Tuesday.

Her mother, Julia Gonzalez, 36, said the holiday season has been an especially hard time for the family because she hasn’t been able to work as a housecleaner since her left arm was injured in a car accident last month.

She said she told Brenda that Santa couldn’t come to their house because he was too busy helping the police.

So Brenda dialed 911.

“I called because I wanted to know if the police knew where Santa was,” she said.

The dispatcher who took Brenda’s call passed a message along to Teresa Proctor, a special services clerk with the Westminster Police Department. When Proctor called Gonzalez and learned of the family’s financial troubles, she took up a collection from co-workers.

She used the $175 she collected to buy clothing, food and gifts for Gonzalez, Brenda and her sister and two brothers, who range in age from 3 to 17. Proctor stashed the last $40 in a Christmas card and gave it to Gonzalez, she said.

Dolls, stuffed animals, crayons and coloring books were among the toys scattered over the floor of the dimly lit apartment in the 7200 block of Golden Nugget Circle on Wednesday.

Speaking limited English, Gonzalez said she is unsure how she will eat and pay bills when the food and money she has been given run out.

“I got no money, no work, no husband, no nothing,” she said.

Gonzalez said her doctor told her that it will take about 3 months for her arm to heal. She said she will return to work then.

But Brenda was not bothered by such concerns as she clutched a blond doll that she had already named after herself.

“Now I’m happy,” Brenda said, watching two playmates comb another doll’s hair and assemble toy dishes on stairs that served as their table. “Now I have friends.”