Charlotte Waste Management acts as Secret Santa for family

CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla.- A Christmas surprise showed up from an unusual place. Forty garbage men pitched in to give a local family a holiday they won’t forget.

Daniela Gonzalez said the prospect of no gifts for her kids this year was a tough one.

“I didn’t know what I was going to do for my babies,” said Gonzalez. “My husband was crying, it was the first time I’d ever seen in cry in 18 years.”

Sometimes gifts arrive from where you least expect them. The mother of four had 40 guardian angels this year who pitched in to buy gifts.

“I mean everybody needs a Christmas.  It’s really sad if a family can’t afford gifts for their children,” said John Urbanski.

A woman who works in the clinic where Gonzalez brings her children partnered with her husband– who works for Waste Management– to organize the drivers to buy all the gifts. The couple said they know what it feels like to be on hard times.

“You know we were put out of our house, Hurricane Charley, and we have four kids, we had to stay in a two bedroom house. We had a lot of things donated to us to help us get back on our feet,” said Wendy Miner.

This Christmas there will be toys under the Gonzalez tree, all thanks to the gift of hope that sometimes arrives from where you least expect it.

In her tearful thank you to everybody who pitched in, Gonzalez says she just wasn’t sure how to truly thank all of them.