Louisiana Man Grants Christmas Wishes To 4-Year-Olds In Kansas

LIBERAL, KS — When Luna and Gianella Gonzalez tied their Christmas lists to several balloons and released them into the skies above their Liberal, Kansas, home, the 4-year-olds were hoping they would make it to Santa Claus.

The girls wrote they had been nice all year and were hoping Santa could bring them candy, My Little Pony toys, earrings and a puppy.

While it's unknown if any of the balloons made it to the North Pole, at least one of them found its way to a jolly gift giver about 500 miles away from Kansas in Shreveport, Louisiana. That’s where Alvin Bamburg discovered a crumpled red balloon on Dec. 23 with the twin girls' lists still attached, according to The Washington Post.

Bamburg told The Post he held onto the list for several weeks before deciding to post about it on Facebook, hoping to get the girls the gifts they wanted.

“Over 220 people shared this thing,” he said. “We had [their mother] located in 24 hours.”
The girls’ mother, Leticia Flores-Gonzalez, told the paper she was hesitant about responding to Bamburg, saying she wasn't looking for a handout when her daughters sent out their lists. It was just a fun thing for the girls to do to help lighten the mood during the holidays.

She got ahold of Bamburg, who then sent over gifts for the girls as well as for her and her husband, The Post reported.

Bamburg sent the girls everything they asked for, save for one thing — a puppy. That was something he wanted to deliver himself.

“It’s just the way me and my wife are,” he told the paper. “If you can ever do anything for anybody, do it. All I thought was: I got to get these two kids a dog.”

Visit The Washington Post’s website to read about the rest of Bamburg’s journey to get a puppy for Luna and Gianella.