People Give Back What Burglars Took ‘It’s Starting To Look More Like Christmas’
The Grinch stole Harland Lindner’s Christmas along with his rug, furniture, washing machine, silver, fireplace insert - everything.
But the 74-year-old found out that Santa doesn’t always arrive in a sleigh. Sometimes he’s just a few phone calls away.
Lindner’s North Side home was ransacked while he was out of town and in the hospital. When he came home Saturday, the cupboards were bare, along with everything else.
But once newspaper readers found out Wednesday about Lindner’s lack of luck, they rose up and gave him a ring. The telephone at his church pealed all day with offers of aid. And Lindner was so tired out by calls to his home that he had to nap during the afternoon.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “Fantastic.
It’s starting to look more like Christmas.”
According to Audubon Park United Methodist Church, three people offered to replace Linder’s stolen fireplace insert. Others offered sofas, chairs, washers and dryers.
“The secretary’s day has been wild!” said a woman answering the phone at the church.
Just ask the secretary. Jan Oman took down names, numbers and offers from folks from all over Spokane. “Everybody’s just shocked at the magnitude of it, y’know?”
Radio station KZZU gave Lindner $300 and the promise of a Christmas gift to come. The station even offered him a tree.
But Lindner isn’t raking it all in. He’s turning much of it away, at least for now. His insurance company has yet to settle his claim, so he isn’t sure what he needs. The church will call donors back once that’s all settled.
In between calls, Lindner boarded up the back door the thieves bashed in. “But in the meantime, the mice got in and woke me up at 3 a.m. playin’ around,” he said. Then Lindner started laughing. “It’s overwhelming.”
It overwhelmed the donors, too. Betty Barnes was peeved early Wednesday because she had a fireplace insert to give, but the first business she called wouldn’t help. But by day’s end, Soot Slayer Chimney Cleaning said it would install it for free.
It turned out Barnes’ insert wouldn’t work for Lindner’s place, but she was happy to try.
“We grew up thinking that you could leave your house unlocked,” said Barnes, 73. “Maybe that sounds like myth, but it absolutely happened. In the 1930s, we were all in it together.”
Denise Gumprecht is offering a sofa and love seat that she says are pretty nice. “I’ll even bake something if he needs it, if he doesn’t need a sofa … He’s the same age as my dad, and we really felt for his situation.”
As for Lindner, he just needed a nap. Then he’d run errands.
“I’m going to the hardware store and getting mice traps and a piece of cheese to see what I can do,” he said.
“I guess I can laugh now. Everything’s coming together.”
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo