It was small and nearly bare, but the Christmas tree that belonged to a homeless man and his friends living under a New Orleans highway represented hope. That was until city officials deemed the tree a “code violation” and threw it out.
John lives under the Pontchartrain Expressway with a few people he met on the streets. He said he had been given $100 from a driver and decided to use some of the money to bring the holiday spirit to the place he calls home.
“My purpose was to bring hope…and smiles,” John told WDSU News.
However, when word got out of what happened to the homeless man, John, and his little, green tree, residents stopped by with decorations, gifts and yes, more Christmas trees in hand.
“I don’t care what code violation it is, it’s the holidays, and these people need everything that can uplift them as much as they can,” Kelly Caruso said to WDSU. She also helped decorate the tree with John and his friends.
John, who only gave his first name, said he’s grateful for the generosity of residents after the tree he bought was thrown into the dumpster by garbage collectors.
And the gifts kept coming for the men living on the streets.
In fact, there were so many trees John decided to donate a couple to a few homeless women who lived nearby.
“They cried, because they haven’t had a tree in a couple years,” John said.
“That’s what we can do by helping others. We don’t have to have thousands or millions [of dollars] to help somebody.”
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