One London mom and her three children who recently became homeless got an early Christmas visit from the original green grump.
On Friday night, Brenda Sprung and her three children aged 17, 11, and nine were visited by Whoville’s very own Grinch, who stopped by to deliver some Christmas presents and spread a little cheer.
“It was unbelievable,” Sprung said.
“It was magic, and when he showed up, my kids were kind of scared but then excited.”
On Nov. 19, Sprung said she received a sheriff’s notice sayings she had to be out in four days.
Sprung, who is on disability, told Global News she had lived in the same apartment for 20 years and that there was a dispute over payments that led to the eviction.
She said she had been worried about her children’s safety in the complex for a while, so when the notice came, she packed everything up and moved their stuff into storage and her family into a motel, where they have remained ever since.
Sprung has been trying to find a new home for her family but said it’s been difficult with it being so close to Christmas and having to put all of her money into renting a room.
“It’s hard when I am paying for everything on my own.”
With everything that has happened, she said it means all the more to have someone bring a little Christmas cheer to her family.
“I am so thankful that me and my kids are together even though it’s tough right now,” she said.
A friend of Sprung’s is the one who initially reached out to the Grinch, who said he was more than happy to help.
The anonymous Londoner is known by many faces during the COVID-19 pandemic, first dressing up as Pennywise the Clown at Halloween and now the Grinch, and even Jack Skellington from The Nightmare before Christmas.
“I am a big movie fan and I watched movies a lot growing up, so once I saw the joy it brought people doing Pennywise I just kept going,” the Grinch told Global News.
“It started as gimmick and joke and people got excited and that was nice because the world has got pretty dark.”
The joke to bring joy has since expanded to a charitable effort as well. He said that people started giving him gifts like toys, advent calendars and even money.
After Sprung’s friend reached out, the Grinch gathered up all the presents he had plus a few extras and headed out for his Christmas drop off.
He said all the money he collects goes towards buying more toys or other gifts like Santa hats he hands out to try and spread a bit of Christmas cheer.
“I would like to do as much as possible, as much as I can because that’s why I started it and hopefully next year we can do more.”
He is not stopping with Christmas either and plans to continue his theatrical campaign for other holidays.
“I am going to keep going until I run out of characters. I will think of something,” he said.
Anyone who knows some in need of a little cheering up around the holidays or who wants to donate can reach out to the Grinch at pennywiseontario@gmail.com or on his Facebook page.
He has also started his own YouTube channel to share the fun with even more people as the weather gets colder.