North Las Vegas firefighters brighten holiday for families

North Las Vegas resident Rosalind Holland has had a very difficult and painful 2021.

Her husband, Damien, died from a thyroid condition earlier in the year, and Holland was out of work during the holiday season.

She had recently opened her home to her sister, Taneisha Pardue, and her two children after Pardue lost her place to live, making for a packed house with five children and their moms at the family home on Revere Avenue near Lake Mead Boulevard.

“Every day is hard, and every day we struggle,” Rosalind said Friday morning. “This is our first Christmas without their dad.”

On Friday morning, however, the North Las Vegas Fire Department made the burden a little bit lighter for the Holland and Pardue families. More than a dozen firefighters showed up at Holland’s front door at 9 a.m., with Santa in the front seat of a firetruck, delivering a huge cache of bicycles, toys and other gifts for the children.

“We appreciate it so much,” Holland said, tears flowing down her face. “It means the world.”

“It is a blessing,” Pardue said, tearful as well, as she thanked firefighters for the generosity.

North Las Vegas Fire Capt. Sergio Reynoso said the gifts handed out Friday morning were part of an annual tradition known as Emergency Holiday Cheer. The event is held in partnership with schools in the city and made possible by community donations to a toy drive held by the nonprofit Firefighters of Southern Nevada Burn Foundation.

“We are able to collect some toys and get them out to families throughout the community,” Reynoso said. “The schools actually nominated 128 families this year, so we’ve helped 128 families, over 500 kids.”

The Holland and Pardue families were nominated for the program by school counselors at Lee Antonello Elementary School.

“Their story has hit home to a lot of firefighters, and so we decided to do a little something extra special by having Santa deliver the toys directly to the children … and we know that the little things you do can have an impact,” Reynoso said.

To say the Christmas gifts were appreciated by the Holland and Pardue families would be an understatement. There were plenty of smiles, and many tears shed, as the five children in the two families joyfully wheeled their new bikes up their driveway.

“I’m very grateful for it,” said Holland’s 15-year-old son, also named Damien. “Unexpected. I’m very grateful.”

Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.