No one attended this 11-year-old boy's birthday party. Then the cops showed up.
After no one came to a boy’s 11th birthday party, the police swooped in bearing gifts and made his day “just a little brighter.”
On Nov. 10, Brian and Tara Jansen of Gatesville, Texas, threw their son Kaleb a birthday party at Studebakers Pizza, inviting 20 of his classmates to celebrate. However, after waiting for 45 minutes, no children showed up.
“It’s so hard as parents to see your little one sitting there just waiting for friends,” Tara told Waco news station KWTX. “I was afraid I put the wrong date on the invitation or something.”
The former military family, who relocated to Texas from Colorado six months ago were accustomed to being newcomers in a town. “I think he did on a certain level understand what was going on, but he understood some people had other things to do and it was a weekend,” said Tara. “We have moved quite a bit being in the military, so he’s used to making new friends and going different places.”
With so much uneaten prepaid pizza, the parents decided to donate the food to the Gatesville Police Department. After making arrangements for officers to pick up the food, Tara received a surprising phone call.
“One officer called back and asked what Kaleb wanted for his birthday and we told them that’s not why we called,” she told KWTX. “The cops showed up. They took Kaleb out to see their cars and turned on the lights. They brought gifts that he really liked. They sang ‘Happy Birthday.’ We were just really grateful and thankful.”
“We were beside ourselves,” the mom said. “Honestly, we’ve done stuff like this when we were in the field, so it’s different being on the other side of it. We thought it was really nice of them. We can’t really put into words how special it made Kaleb feel.”
Gatesville Police Chief Nathan Gohlke tells Yahoo Lifestyle that the four officers who attended Kaleb’s birthday were thrilled to celebrate with the tween. “When we found out that the situation entailed more than just extra pizzas, we chose to do something about it,” he says. “The officers went right to Walmart to purchase some toys.”
Tara opened up on Facebook, writing, “We threw a party for Kaleb today … and none of his friends showed up. My heart broke for him, sitting there eating pizza waiting. After 40 mins we called the Gatesville Police Dept. to pick up some pizzas cause we had quite a few left over. When they found out what happened they all showed up with gifts in hand. The smile on his face fixed everything. They stayed to sing happy birthday to him too! This right here is why we love our police, our heroes. They go out of their way to make a little boys day just a little brighter. We can’t say enough how appreciative we are to the Gatesville Police Dept. Happy Birthday to our little love.”
The mom did not return Yahoo Lifestyle’s requests for comment. She told KWTX that as a result of numerous Facebook shares, “We’ve had people show up with gifts to his school. We’ve had happy birthday messages from as far away as Costa Rica.” A representative of Studebakers Pizza, which declined to comment when reached by Yahoo Lifestyle, wrote on Tara’s wall that the restaurant offered to host a second party for Kaleb, free of charge.
Later, Tara added to her post writing, “We would love to give a big thank you for all the love and kind words everyone has sent to Kaleb. We are overwhelmed by the sincerity that you all have shown both Kaleb and our wonderful Gatesville Police Department.” Tara also said that Kaleb would donate his gifts to the local food bank Gatesville Care Center, which Yahoo Lifestyle could not reach for comment.
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
Boy with autism still has ‘the best day ever’ after friends ditch his birthday party
Family lashes out after 11-year-old boy with autism falsely accused of shoplifting
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