What began as an encounter in a department store check-out line led to a magical Christmas Eve for one young girl.
When Amanda Deforno met two strangers in line at a department store two weeks ago, she noticed a girl, Michaela Jericho, who was with her father, Danny Spann, and the three began talking.
“She has a cute little smile, and I started talking to her,” Deforno said.
During their conversation, Deforno learned of some of the pain Jericho has had to endure behind that smile -- losing her mother to cancer and then some financial trouble in her family.
“I offered (Danny Spann) my 25 percent off coupon, and he was so thankful and appreciative,” Deforno said.
Deforno didn’t stop there. The next day, she decided to help even more. She wanted to give young Michaela a Christmas she would cherish forever.
"I drove 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. the last 14 days, putting on hundreds of miles, collecting donations," Deforno said.
The donations continued coming in, gifts, money, gift cards and more.
Thursday, Deforno’s efforts came to light during a big reveal at the Ross Park Mall store, where she was able to reveal all of the gifts she had collected for Jericho.
“All of these people here. They care,” Jericho said. “It’s just overwhelming and amazing to think how many people actually care.”
After a random encounter that turned into a good deed, Deforno said she wouldn’t have done Christmas Eve any other way.
“I couldn’t ask for a better place to spend Christmas Eve than to see that little girl’s face,” Deforno said.
