A U.S. Marine veteran started a fundraiser last week that has raised tens of thousands of dollars to bring Christmas to the children who lost everything
When he saw a mother at a shelter consoling her son about his lost Christmas, the veteran decided to raise money and buy gifts for as many of the displaced children as possible.
their situation that this has caused them. and i find myself playing secret santa. i approach the kids and the family and just let them throw whatever they want in the cart and i go and buy it for them right then and there. we re trying to make as much of a positive effort in this community as we can. and so far it s going pretty well. i really appreciate it. you have a week left to grow the beard, shawn. keep it up. you re terrific. let me just say, you re just terrific. and i m so impressed by everything you re doing. i think we have the go fund me page that people can contribute to this. we ll tweet it out so people around the country can help out and make a difference to all the people in mayfield. shawn triplett, thank you for being with us. and thank you to everybody at cnn. you know, even now i m still getting help from some of the people, connecting me with others for truckloads of toys
there s sadness. there s also joy. you know, for appreciating what i have. you know, there s there s a lot. so many words. and i m still trying to wrap my head around it. . and as you are thinking about yourself and i do hope you take a moment to make sure that you re okay here. one of the things from being there, shawn, that i felt is everyone is looking out so much for everyone else. they re not pausing to make sure they re okay here. and it is so i think painful for so many people. so i encourage you to take a moment for yourself. but in the meantime, you re just busting your ass to make sure christmas happens for everyone there. tell us what you re doing. you know, i didn t sleep that night. i woke up and i was like, you know, somebody has to do something about these kids. they re sleeping on cots. they don t have toys. they have nothing to play with. you can see the sadness in their