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She Walked 12 Miles To Work To Feed Her Children. Local Deputies Surprised Her With A Free Vehicle

December 22, 2020

Deputies in Ottawa, Kansas, surprised a woman with a vehicle after the department received multiple calls about her walking along the highway in the freezing cold.

Credit: Franklin County Sheriff's Office

Christine Wheeler was walking a total of 12 miles to and from work four days a week.

On Tuesday, the Franklin County Sheriff's Office surprised her with a free van, insurance and taxes paid for a year.

This is what the sheriff's office wrote on Facebook:

"Over the last two weeks the Franklin County Sheriff's Office has received several calls for service regarding a woman walking on 59 Highway between Ottawa and Princeton at around 7:00AM. Each time Deputies responded they encountered a 24-year-old Princeton woman walking and would give her a ride to work so she would not have to walk on the cold highway.

Throughout these contacts with her, the Sheriff's Office learned this woman walked to work at Love's truck stop six miles (and then six miles back home) to support her two small children. The woman made several comments about how she had to walk so she could feed her children and was very driven and motivated to take care of her family any way she could.

On December 9, 2020, after giving the woman a ride to work, a small group of Deputies gathered to discuss how we could help this woman. After only a few days, through generous citizens and businesses and the use of our 'No Shave November' funds we were able to donate a van, two new car seats, a price chopper gift card, the registration for the van and the first year of car insurance along with $200.

On December 15, 2020, the Franklin County Sheriff's Office along with members of the community in partnership with Love's Truck Stop we were able to surprise this woman with all of these items in hopes for making a better Christmas for her and her small children."

Credit: Franklin County Sheriff's Office